


Snow and Memory

by elliemoran



Series: Snow and Silence [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Claustrophobia, Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Armin Arlert/Erwin Smith, Minor Sasha Blouse/Connie Springer, Past Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2018-03-11 07:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3318773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elliemoran/pseuds/elliemoran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been nearly two years since a frozen, half dead Levi appeared on Eren's front porch, and it's finally time for the happily-ever-after part of their story to begin. </p><p>There's just a few little details to work out first. Like Eren's family, and their impeccable timing when it comes to interrupting...stuff, and a certain sheriff that won't take no for an answer.  </p><p>And then there's the fact that someone seems to be trying to kidnap Eren. </p><p>Again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Memories Faded - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> That this story is coming into existence at all is majorly thanks to the awesome people here on AO3 and on Tumblr who commented and messaged me, letting me know that I really needed to answer a few (or a lot) of the questions I'd left behind with S&S. 
> 
> Add in a few scenes with Eren and Levi that I cannot wait to write, and I couldn't stay away. 
> 
> I am going to try and make this fic work on its own, so you shouldn't necessarily have to read Snow and Silence in order to have it make sense. I'm pretty sure I failed already, but we'll see how it goes. 
> 
> As always, I'm afternoonteawithme on Tumblr, and I super love and appreciate any feedback :)

Fingers wrapped around his still-warm paper cup, Eren stretched his arms out across the café table and turned up his face to the sun. Outside of the sheltered courtyard brisk winds stirred through the trees spaced along Trost’s main street, tossing still-colorful leaves in circles against the impossibly clear, pale blue sky. A stray breeze brushed over the back of his neck and he hunched his shoulders, suppressing a shiver.

It wasn’t exactly freezing yet, but it certainly wasn’t summer anymore.

Still, Eren wasn’t the only one who’d decided to sit outside. Half of the tables – the sunny half – were occupied by locals trying to get the most out of this year’s heat before winter officially arrived, and the tiny, glass fronted café itself was nearly empty.

Nobody thought anything of the young, fidgety, brown haired man sitting on his own at one of the small black iron tables, slowly working his way through his fourth hot chocolate. Which suited Eren perfectly. He could revel in the fact that he was out, in public, surrounded by people. And he wasn’t panicking.  

He was actually a little bored.

Blowing out a breath, Eren slumped back in his seat and glanced over at the Sheriff’s office, a blocky, squat building nearly directly across from the café. He’d watched a steady stream of uniformed deputies and civilian visitors walk in and out of the front doors, but there’d been no sign yet of the one person he wanted to see.

Levi had arrived in Trost early that morning. He’d gone straight to Erwin’s office, and Eren hadn’t heard from him since.

Scowling back down at his cup, Eren told himself to be patient. This wasn’t like all the rest of Levi’s visits, where he’d had to split what limited time he’d been able to carve out between Eren and Erwin.

This was it.

Not quite two years after they’d first met, Levi had finally, officially, finished. He was done, retired from the DLA, and whatever mysterious work he’d been doing with Erwin. Once he stepped out of that building, Levi was staying put at Shinganshina Ranch. They’d be spending most every day together.

And most every night.

The thought sent a jolt straight to Eren’s stomach. With a groan, he let his suddenly warm face drop to the table, rolling his forehead against the cold glass surface.

He’d been so jittery all morning that Mikasa had banned him from coming within twenty feet of any of the barn animals, so he’d wandered aimlessly around the house until Armin had taken pity on him and suggested they head into town. Which had been a great idea, for the first hot chocolate or so, and then Eren's nerves had combined with fresh boredom and now he felt like his skin was at least a size too small for his insides, and he really just wanted to go bury his head under a pillow somewhere.

But he’d come all this way, going home now seemed like giving up. He couldn’t go into the Sheriff’s office – firstly because the plan had been to surprise Levi as Levi walked out, and secondly because the place was always cramped and crowded and he’d probably wind up embarrassing himself.  

Lifting his head, ignoring the looks of alarm he was getting from the elderly couple sitting the next table over, Eren aimed a fierce glare at the ugly little building, willing the double doors to swing open and Levi to walk out.

A sudden burst of loud giggling had him blinking, his head swinging around. A gaggle of teenagers were bunched up around the bench in front of the café, jostling each other as they stared at something across the street.

As Eren watched, a lanky brunet - who couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen - climbed up onto the bench and lifted their phone to snap a photo.

The kid dropped back to the sidewalk and Eren realized exactly what had the teenagers so excited. Smothering a laugh, he watched the familiar figure of his foster brother, perfectly framed by the box window at the front of the old bookstore across the road.  Settled on the wide window bench, Armin held a notepad and a massive, oversized book precariously balanced on his propped up legs. He lifted one deceptively slim hand, pushing back strands of the pale hair that had come loose from the sloppy knot at the back of his head, oblivious to the fresh wave of whispering and giggles his graceful movements caused. 

He looked thoroughly engrossed in whatever he was studying - Eren would bet money on it being a car manual of some kind, as that had become Armin's latest interest – and from long experience, Eren knew there was very little that would distract Armin now. Certainly not the mass of teenagers who were still giggling as they reluctantly moved off further down the street.

Puffing out a breath, Eren considered. When he took a sip of his hot chocolate and realized it had gone completely cold, his mind was made up. He was bored, and irritated with it. The least he could do was go bother Armin too.

Scraping back his chair, he made his way out of the courtyard, dumping his cup in the trash as he went. He’d just stepped onto the sidewalk when he was surprised to see Armin lift his head from the book, staring out through the window.

For an instant, he thought Armin must have spotted him, but his brother’s eyes seemed to be fixed on something a little further away.   

A truck passed between them, then a car, in the opposite direction. When the traffic cleared, the bookstore window was empty, only the book left lying where Armin had been. Frowning, Eren craned his neck, trying to see across the suddenly busy street.

Finally, he spotted his brother, almost directly across from him at the opposite curb. He looked furious, lips tight, eyes intent. He still wasn’t quite looking at Eren.

Slowly, Eren turned, following Armin’s line of sight.

“Eren. It’s been a long time.”

It was as though something heavy slammed into Eren’s stomach, physically knocking all the air out of his lungs. He stared up at the broad grin stretched across the face of the thickly built, blond man standing on the sidewalk in front of him. Even as he struggled for his next breath, Eren’s first thought, oddly enough, was that Reiner seemed too old. He didn't fit the pictures in Eren's head anymore.  

_Of course he's older now. It’s been nearly ten years._

But all Eren could hear was the crackling in his ears. The last time he’d seen Reiner Braun's face, they’d been at opposite ends of a courtroom. And the last time they'd been this close to each other, Reiner had been stuffing him into the trunk of a car. 

 


	2. Memories Faded - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi isn't having a good day, and it's about to get worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We got epically busy at work pretty much the day after I posted the last chapter, so I managed no writing at all almost, and when I did this chapter totally didn't want to be written, somehow. But we shipped most of the stuff this week so I'm finally back to what I'm hoping is my normal schedule. Fingers crossed. 
> 
> I'm really looking forward to writing this, and the other two ongoing fics I haven't touched in ages. I also have a million and one other stories I'm aching to write, so I'm gonna try and focus on speed (because I'm sloooow at writing). Which all means I will likely have more typos and odd grammar and things I probably haven't phrased as well as I'd like, and I'm sorry. 
> 
> Please let me know if there's anything that really stands out for me to fix, but otherwise I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Levi had always hated the inside of the Trost Sheriff’s Department. He'd always thought the place looked as though it had been decorated by someone who'd aimed for neutral, missed, and ended up somewhere closer to mind-numbingly bland. Scratchy, swirly-patterned brown carpet blended into beige walls lined by mismatched beige filing cabinets, and topped with a beige ceiling. Over the years enough cabinets had been added to the walls that all the beige metal desks had been forced into clumps all along the center of the room.

The only color in the room came from a single desk near the back. Levi didn’t know exactly why Connie Springer’s fiancé had painted the entire thing a bright pastel pink - or how she'd gotten Erwin's permission - but the young officer didn’t seem to mind. He usually just grinned every time anyone asked about it.  

For the moment the place was quiet – or at least as quiet as it ever got. The main room, separated from the tiny entrance lobby by a short counter and a thin sheet of reinforced glass, was never deserted, but for the moment only a few officers and admin staff sat at their desks. What sounds they made were muffled by the hum from the fans they kept on year round to combat the permanently stale air.

Erwin’s desk was crammed into a back corner, taking up the last available section of bare wall. His desk position was nearly the only privilege he allowed himself, and as much of a pain in the ass as Erwin could be Levi would never have said the man didn’t deserve that and a lot more. He was very good at what he did.

But he was also most definitely a major pain in Levi’s ass.

As if in answer to the thought, Trost County Sheriff Erwin Smith kicked back, battered chair creaking beneath his weight as he balanced precariously on two thin metal legs. “I give it a month.”

Reluctantly pulling his attention from the short stack of folders between them, Levi eyed the expression on the Sheriff’s chiseled, too-attractive-for-his-own-good face. He’d been doing his best to ignore Erwin all morning, and from long experience he knew any response at all would only be taken as encouragement.  

But he just couldn’t let that shit-eating smirk be. “What the hell are you on about?”

Erwin’s grin broadened. “You’ll be bored out of your mind and begging me for a job in less than a month.”

“Don’t hold your breath.” Wishing he’d kept his mouth shut, Levi turned back to the badly photocopied form in his hands. The thing was barely half filled out and generously splattered with what he hoped was a large coffee stain. The hundred or so files he’d already managed to complete had all been full of documents in very nearly the same condition. “Have you _ever_ actually filed any paperwork on any of our cases?”

Ignoring Levi’s question, Erwin shook his head. “You’ll be wasted out on that farm. Your skill set isn’t exactly geared towards handling cows and horses.”

“I handle cows and horses just fine.”

The chair groaned painfully as Erwin rocked back and forth. “Not my point.” He was silent for all of maybe thirty seconds, before letting out a loud, exaggerated sigh. “I can’t even imagine it. The man whose face alone gives at least half the drug cartels this side of the planet nightmares, retiring to a quiet life on the farm.” He let out another sad sigh. “You’ll be dying of boredom in no time.”

Very deliberately, Levi set his pen down. He lifted his eyes to meet Erwin’s. “Even if I was, the last place I’d come looking for _entertainment_ would be with you.”

“I’m hurt.” The amusement clear on the Sheriff’s face told Levi he was anything but. The front legs of his chair dropped to the carpet with a thump as he braced his arms on the desk, leaning towards Levi.  “Come on, Levi, you owe me.”

“I do not. That slate was more than wiped clean with that last errand you had me run.”

Erwin’s eyes widened, attempting innocence. “What? I just asked you to pick up an old cellphone.”

“You told me I was picking up an old cellphone. You didn’t tell me about the information inside that old cellphone, or that the guy I was picking it up from was an ex-marine with a personal arsenal the size of a small army base, _or_ that he would be willing to take the whole damn city council hostage to keep you from getting it.”

“I did warn you he didn’t like me.”

“Yeah, you told me ‘he’s not my biggest fan’. The man very nearly foamed at the mouth every time someone mentioned you.”

“Details, details.”

“Yeah, details. Now let me finish this so I can leave and never come back.”

“It’s for your own good too.” Erwin seamlessly changed tack. “You and Eren will be together 24 hours a day. What are you even going to do with all that time. You’ll get bored of each other.”

“I’m sure we’ll keep ourselves entertained.”

This time, the quick grin that spread across Erwin’s face had an entirely different tone. “I bet.”

“Fuck off. Asshole.” But Levi’s voice held no heat.

“Uh-uh. It’s not my assh-”

A slight cough had them both turning to find one of Erwin’s deputies hovering beside Erwin’s desk. The flush on Marco’s cheeks told them he’d caught at least part of their conversation. “I found the files you asked for, Sheriff Smith.”

“Perfect. Just put them there.” Erwin nodded at the nearly completed stack already in front of Levi.

Levi eyed the new folders in Marco’s arms. “What the hell, Erwin. How does this place even function like this?”  

Erwin shrugged. “I get all the important fields filled. You were the one who said he wanted to make sure all the paperwork was completely done for any case you had anything to do with.”  

“I just didn’t want you calling me back in to fill any of this shit out later. I had no idea you were this far behind.”  

Carefully, Marco set the folders down in front of Levi, before taking a quick step back, snapping his heels and very nearly saluting when Levi lifted his glare to the deputy’s face. Catching himself, Marco dropped his hand to his side as he gave a slightly sheepish smile. “Hello, Sir. Good to see you back in town.”

“Don’t call me sir.” Levi barely restrained himself from growling. “As far as I know, neither one of us is in the military anymore.”

Marco’s eyes slid to Erwin. “Ah. Right.” The flush spread to his earlobes. “Of course not, sir.”

Levi sighed. “I’ll never understand how you can be so damn good at poker with that transparent face of yours.”

“It’s a gift, sir.”

Erwin’s eyes had gone intent as he leaned across the desk again. “In all seriousness, Levi, we could really use your help.”

“Not a chance. I’m out. All my covers are gone. I’m useless to you now.”

“You won’t need any of that.” Erwin’s face lit up with one of his rare, genuine smiles. He deliberately increased his drawl. “We’re just a simple sheriff’s department out here in the boondocks.”

“Simple sheriff’s department, my ass.”

Marco coughed again.

Levi glanced up at him. “You really should get that cough looked at.”

“Yes sir.” Marco grinned happily at him. “I’ll do that. And may I say we’re all really looking forward to working with you again. Officially, I mean.”

“You may not. Go away.”

As he had countless times all day, Levi felt the slight shift of air pressure as someone opened the reinforced door leading in from the lobby, and as they had every other time, both Levi and Erwin turned to see who was walking in or out.

A short, well-built blonde walked in. Her face was distinctive, and familiar. Levi thought he should know who she was, but didn’t think they’d ever met. She nodded at the dispatcher who must have let her in, before turning towards Erwin’s desk.

Levi glanced back and found all traces of amusement had vanished from the Sheriff’s face. Erwin stood, still behind his desk. His eyes slid from the woman to Levi and back in an almost imperceptible motion. It was enough. Levi knew who she was now. He stood, turning to study the woman as she walked towards them.

So this was Annie. She was shorter than he’d thought. He found that oddly satisfying.

“Annie. Good to see you again. It’s been a while.” The sheriff wore his social mask. Levi had often been told his emotions were hard to read, but Erwin could be a whole new level of inscrutable when he wanted to. “You should come out to town more often.”

Annie’s feet came to a halt. Her eyes flickered across Marco and Levi’s faces, before settling back somewhere in the direction of Erwin’s. She shrugged. “I get what I need when I need it.”

“I went out to check on you last week. I must have just missed you. Mina said you’d gone out of state.”

Her eyes flickered. “So?”

Erwin smiled. “So nothing. I was glad to hear you’d left the ranch for a bit. Did you go on vacation?”

“No.” She shifted her weight. “I had to pick up something.”

“Well I’m glad to see you today. Can I help you with something?”

“Yeah.” She lifted one hand, scrubbing at the back of her neck. “Can you get a message out to Shinganshina?”

Erwin cocked his head. “To Hanji? Is this something you can’t tell her over the phone? I know you talk to her sometimes.”

“No, to- to Eren.  Can you get a message to him or not?”  

Marco spoke up for the first time. “Actually, Eren’s in town today. He was just next door at lunchtime, at the café.” He glanced at Levi. “I don’t think he’d have left yet.”

Annie’s eyes went wide. Without another word she turned on her heel, heading towards the door at a dead run.

Levi made it out to the street a full three steps ahead of her.

He spotted Eren almost immediately, standing on the sidewalk near the café, Armin easily recognizable just in front of him. They faced two men, one thickly built and blond, the other darker haired, and tall.

By the time Levi made it across the road, darting through the traffic, he’d registered that the taller of the two seemed to be trying to pull the blond back and away, but the shorter man wasn’t budging.

“Come on, Reiner. Let’s go.”

“What’s your rush, Bert? We haven’t seen Eren in ages.” There was no animosity in the grin Reiner aimed at Eren, but Levi could clearly see the blank shock on Eren's face. “How have you been?”

Levi moved forward, easing in between Eren and Armin, back turned to the other two men as he deliberately filled Eren's field of vision. Moving slowly, he reached up, sliding a hand behind Eren’s neck and gently tugging until Eren’s glassy eyes met his. “Let’s go.”

Eren’s body was trembling. He swallowed, nodded. It wasn’t until Levi took his wrist that his gaze cleared and he glanced towards his brother. “But, Armin-

“I’m fine. Go. I’ll see you at home.” Armin smiled reassuringly at Eren.  

“Why are you leaving alrea-” Reiner’s words cut off abruptly as Annie reached them, closely followed by Erwin. She slammed her hands into Reiner’s chest, pushing him back a step. “What are you doing? You were supposed to wait for me.” She aimed a glare at Bert. “I told you to stay in the truck.”

Berthold helplessly shook his head. “I couldn’t stop him. He saw Eren and-”  

“Aww, come on, Annie. I’ve been away so long. I just wanted to take a look around.”

Erwin stepped forward, setting one broad hand on Reiner’s shoulder. “That’s fine Reiner. Just take it slow.” He shifted his bulk between the large man and Eren. “Why don’t we sit, have some coffee? I want to hear how you’re doing.”

As Reiner finally let Berthold and Annie turn him away, Erwin fished a set of keys out of his pocket and threw them at Levi.  

Catching them in midair, Levi nodded. “Thanks.”

“I’ll bring your car over later.”

Holding back a wince at the thought – he really didn’t want to owe Erwin anything at the moment – Levi led Eren away, leaving Armin and Erwin to handle the rest.

It wasn’t until they’d reached Erwin’s spot in the parking lot that Eren finally spoke.

“Where’s your bike?”

“In storage, with the rest of my stuff. I brought my car.”

“Oh.” Standing very still, Eren stared at the sleek silver car in the slot next to Erwin’s bike. The backseat was full of what luggage Levi had figured he’d need until they worked out exactly where everything else was going to go. “Um. I’m fine. I've calmed down. We can go in your car. I can handle cars now. Mostly.”  

As Eren attempted to smile, Levi wondered if the kid had any idea how pale he’d gone, his face almost bloodless beneath his dusky skin.

Reaching up, Levi carefully slid a helmet over windblown brown hair and flipped the visor down to cover Eren’s eyes. “We’ll try that another day.”

“Okay.” Eren bit his lip. "Sorry."

Levi rapped his knuckles against the side of Eren's helmet before wordlessly climbing onto the bike. As Eren settled into the seat behind him, he felt the younger man's head come to rest against his back. "Hold on tight."

The helmet pressing against his spine bobbed as Eren nodded, and then the arms wrapped around Levi's waist squeezed enough to almost hurt. Satisfied, Levi peeled out of the parking lot, heading towards the safety of home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Levi's POV (finally!) I have been wanting to write his side of things for ever and ever on this story, and this chapter doesn't really delve too much into what he thinks of Eren, but I'm hoping to get there. Someday :)


	3. Distractions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally get to write more about the family, which is super exciting and also super nervous making - I seriously hope I'm not massacring any of their characters. Personally I love EVERY SINGLE one of these dudes but right now they don't all love each other, and even the ones who do kinda enjoy getting on each other's nerves. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy :)

Mikasa had clearly already heard. Eren suppressed a sigh as he climbed off the bike, watching his sister jump up from the porch bench and start running in their direction. She was more than halfway across the yard by the time Eren had both feet firmly on the ground. He’d just managed to take a few precautionary steps away from the bike before she was there, knocking him back, arms wrapped around his chest in a rib-cracking hug.

Her face pressed into the crook of his neck. Eren did his best to breathe as he raised his free hand to pat at the top of her head. “I’m fine.”

“You’re such a liar.” Her voice was muffled against his shoulder.

“No really, I was just surprised.” The need for air was becoming critical. “It was nothing.”

She snorted. Her arms tightened, pressing the last of the air out from his lungs with one final squeeze. Easing away, she studied his face.

Gratefully breathing again, Eren attempted his most carefree smile. “See?”

Her lips tightened. “Stupid”

Eren lost the smile. “What? Why?”

“You just are.” Her glare shifted across to Levi, still standing beside bike. “So you’re back. Again.”

The corner of Levi’s mouth twitched. “Yes.”

“I hear you plan on sticking around this time.”

“Yes.”

“Fine. You’ll be sleeping in the guest room.”

Levi said nothing, but something about the lift of his eyebrow over his bland expression had a flush riding up the back of Eren’s neck.

“Mikasa, stop. He’ll be staying with me.”

She sniffed, turning away and sliding an arm through Eren’s as they started towards the house. “We’ll see.”

 

 

**\---**

 

 

Standing in the center of his bathroom, Eren glanced around, hunting for something else to clean. He’d dived into sterilizing the kitchen until Armin had gotten back from town and he and Levi had started on dinner. With nothing else to do but try and keep Mikasa from picking at Levi too much, Eren had headed upstairs to see if he’d missed anything in his - their – room.

He’d never enjoy cleaning the way Levi did, but he’d definitely learned that there was something about scrubbing a bathtub that helped turn the rest of his mind off.

There hadn’t been all that much left to do though - he’d already spent a lot of time over the past month getting ready for today, ever since Levi had called to say he’d be coming.

He’d been so excited.

Letting out a long breath, Eren scrubbed at his face. He felt like a fog had settled over his thoughts, dulling everything except for the sick feeling in his stomach. 

“Still cleaning?”

Eren jumped, his hands dropping from his face as Levi’s voice came from the doorway. He quickly grabbed for a cloth and busied himself with swiping at a faint watermark on the shower door.  “I was. I’m nearly done.”

“Good.” Levi stepped further into the bathroom, picking up a rag and companionably scrubbing at other barely visible marks on the glass. “You were up here such a long time, I thought you’d decided to take a bath.”

“No, sorry.”

"It is a pity.”

Eren’s hand froze. He just barely kept himself from sniffing at his shirt. He didn’t think he smelled, but- “Why?”

Levi was smiling. Eren’s breath caught in his throat even before Levi spoke.

“I was hoping I’d catch you naked.”

Eren’s face went hot. He was pretty sure there wasn’t a bit of his skin that Levi hadn’t already seen up close at some point over the past two years, and yet he didn’t think he’d ever get used to the things Levi said, or did. Or Levi in general.

Dropping the rag he'd been using into the sink, Levi moved closer, leaning up on his toes as he braced a hand on Eren’s chest and planted a quick kiss on his lips. “Dinner’s ready.”

Eren swallowed. “Okay.”

“Hurry up.”

“Okay.”

Shaking his head, Levi’s lips curved again as he turned away, heading back towards the door. “You coming or not?” 

As Eren hurried after Levi, he couldn’t help but notice that the fog in his head seemed to have slipped away, for the moment at least.

 

 

**\---**

 

 

Erwin and Marco had dropped off Levi’s car while Levi was still upstairs, and Mikasa had managed to unload nearly all of Levi’s things into the barn before she’d gotten caught.

When Eren tried to get her to help bring all the boxes back to the house, she just shrugged, and said that since Levi hadn’t seemed to want the spare room, she’d figured he’d be fine in one of the stalls.

By the time Armin had gotten Eren and Mikasa to stop fighting, Levi had convinced Hanji that her ring-tailed cat didn’t need a spot at the table, and they were all actually eating dinner, Eren was very nearly able to forget that anything unusual had happened that afternoon.

Hanji twirled her spoon absently through her soup as she glanced at Levi, sitting next to Eren. “We’ll have to work out where to put everybody. I was thinking about adding another floor. Or there’s always the basement.”

“Not the basement.” Levi was leaning back in his chair, hands cupped around his mug. For such a good cook he rarely ate much of the food he made, but Eren was happy to see he’d at least finished off the small portion he’d allotted himself.

“Yeah but I saw this thing where they jack the whole house up on metal beams - I mean that _was_ a smaller house but if we got really, really big beams we could definitely manage. Then we could completely take out all Grisha’s tunnels and dig _down_ -”

“No.”

“But Riri-”

This time it was Mikasa who cut her off. “His opinion doesn’t matter. He’s not going to be moving in anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Hanji blinked at Mikasa. “He already has moved in.” She turned back to Levi. “Right?”

“Right” Levi took a sip of his tea. “I live here now. With Eren. In Eren’s room.”

Armin cut in quickly. “And you’ll be helping on the farm, right?” At Levi’s nod Armin carried on, his voice loud enough to drown out Mikasa’s growl. “That’s great. It’ll give all of us more time to work on other things. But are you sure you’re really okay with such a drastic lifestyle change?”

“I’ll be fine. At least I won’t have to worry about anyone shooting at me out here.” Levi paused, considering, and then added. “Or not as much, in any case.”

Armin’s eyes slid towards Mikasa, but Eren was pretty sure Levi was referring to the time the goat had knocked a tranquilizer gun off the wall and the – thankfully empty – dart had hit Levi. He squirmed a little in his chair as he clearly recalled exactly what they’d been doing that had distracted them enough not to notice Santa breaking out of his stall.

“So you won’t get bored of working here then?”

“Now you’re starting to sound like Erwin.”

Armin smiled.  

“Oh yeah. I remembered something the other night.” Hanji broke in. “Didn’t you once threaten to gut Pixis if he ever made you go within a mile of a farm ever again?”

“That was different. And that was entirely your fault.”

“Why? What did I do?”

“I’m not going to discuss that anywhere near food.”

As dinner carried on, Eren found he felt more and more at ease. The familiar back and forth between his family and Levi was somehow relaxing, and he’d been somewhat lulled by the way Armin and Mikasa had carefully avoided talking about that afternoon.

So he wasn’t at all prepared when Hanji suddenly turned to face him. “I hear you ran into Reiner today.”

Eren’s spoon dropped from fingers, splashing soup over his shirt.

“Yes, we did.” Levi was the one who answered Hanji. “Did Erwin tell you?”

Eren busied himself scrubbing at the stain with his napkin.  

“Yeah. He said Berthold got out of prison over a year ago – which we knew. He stayed near Reiner until he was discharged earlier this month.” She broke off a chunk of bread, scraping it over her bowl, evidently not noticing the new silence from the others at the table. “Erwin said Reiner isn’t considered a danger at all, as long as he stays under watch.”

Mikasa leaned towards Eren. “Don’t worry. Just stay on the ranch. They won’t come here.”

Eren made himself smile. “For how long? It sounds like they’ve moved back for good.”

“We could talk to Erwin, convince them to move.” Armin’s face was carefully blank, but Eren could see the deep concern in his eyes.

“Run them out of town?” Eren shook his head at his brother. “No. I’m fine, please believe me.” There was absolutely no change in the expressions on any of the four faces staring back at him. Eren sighed, scrubbing at his hair. “Look, it was just surprise. I’ll get used to seeing them around. I’m not afraid of them. And besides, you guys don’t think they’ll do anything either, do you?”

Looking away, Mikasa shook her head.

Armin glanced over at her, studying her profile. He huffed out a short breath. “No. I don’t think they’ll do anything. As things stand. But please, be careful.”

“I will.”

Mikasa abruptly turned back to Levi. “So, what did you think of Annie? Did you know she and Eren were a thing? For _years_.”

Eren choked on the soup he’d managed to get into his mouth. 

“I did.” Levi reached over and patted Eren on his back.

“I liked her.” Mikasa smiled beautifully at Levi.

Hanji interrupted before Levi could respond. “Oh yeah, I remember that. She used to come over all the time when you were in high school.” She turned, angling her head as she studied Levi for a long minute. “Amazing, Eren. You must have a preference for short people, huh?”

Armin spit out the milk he’d just swallowed, and even Mikasa’s eyes widened at that.

Levi calmly set his mug down. “If we’re talking about making room in the basement, I think I should go through your storeroom first.”

Hanji’s nostrils flared. Her eyes went panicked and wide. “You can’t. You always throw everything important away.”

“I’ll start first thing in the morning.”

“I’ll help.” Armin smiled at Hanji, apologetically. “I’m sorry, Hanji. But it is starting to smell in there. I think something might have gone bad.”

“That’s probably just the excrement samples from our last trip-”

The argument carried on around the table, and Eren felt Levi’s hand reach out and take his. As cool fingers wrapped around his own, Eren slowly, slowly, felt the tension in his muscles ease. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm blaming work for the extra weeks delay. But I shipped all my bosses off to New York yesterday, so they probably won't be asking me for too much stuff before I have the next chapter ready to post. I'm hoping :) 
> 
> Also, I should have enough time to go through and answer all your awesome comments and questions, which I've been dying to do - thank you for them all!


	4. The Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so very intense to work on (I got kicked out of Barnes and Nobles twice because I hadn't realized they'd shut while I was writing, and I'm about to get kicked out again so I'm hurrying to post this now), but I'm really hoping everything comes across decently. 
> 
> It's essentially a flashback chapter, but it's also more than that. Please ask any questions you'd like, I'm working hard to get the answers into the story, and it's awesome and helpful for me to know what people are wondering about. 
> 
> Next week I'll most likely be going to the Midwest Media Expo, but if it goes anything like Youmacon I should still be able to get a chapter done, I hope :)

Hours later, Eren was dreaming.

It was an old dream, and familiar. An almost memory.

He stood waist deep in the shallow waters at the edge of Shinganshina Lake. The hot sun beat down on his head and shoulders – he’d refused to put on his hat, or his shirt, but he’d burn to a crisp before he’d admit his mom had been right when she’d told him to cover up.

Floating weeds tickled over his skinny, bare legs as he gripped his prized fishing rod and waited for something to nibble at the bait he’d so carefully dug up that morning. He hadn’t caught much of anything yet, and nothing that had been decent enough to keep. The _real_ fish were further in, away from the shoreline, where the water was too deep and dark to see the bottom.

But nobody had been free to take him out on the boat, and his mom said he was too young to go alone, so he was stuck out here in the shallows. Again. 

Scowling, Eren scuffed his feet through the muddy lake floor, kicking up a cloud of dirt that made the water all around him go briefly opaque.

He’d barely seen his dad in _ages_. Eren knew he was really, really busy, but it still sucked.

It wouldn’t be so bad if he could help. He wasn’t stupid, he figured he could make himself useful, and his dad probably needed all the hands he could get right now. There’d been a constant parade of sciencey types from the local military base streaming in and out of the house lately, and he knew the base’s head of research, Hanji, hadn’t left the basement for the last month at least.

Apart from a couple times when her assistant had dragged her up to take a shower, of course.

Whatever was going on, his dad hadn’t even waited for him to come down for breakfast that morning before he’d headed to the basement, even though it was Sunday.

So Eren had nobody to go fishing with.

His back felt like it was on fire. Flexing his shoulders, Eren turned to face the shore. His mom sat on a blanket halfway up the slope that led to the house, doing something with a basket of fruit and a bunch of glass jars.

She waved at him.

Sniffing, Eren turned his head away, not ready to forgive her just yet. He was _totally_ old enough to take the boat out on his own. He’d be eleven next year, almost a teenager.

He didn’t need her worrying over him.

A voice deep inside his head was yelling, telling him to turn back, to apologize, to go sit next to his mom and enjoy her concern, no matter how smothering he thought it was right now, because soon everything would change and he wouldn’t be able to.

But the real ten year old Eren hadn’t known what was coming, and the dream ten year old Eren always refused to accept it.

Instead, he turned away, walking further into the lake. This time, when he looked back he found his mother standing, arms frantically waving through the air. One of her fruit jars had toppled over and red juice was quickly staining the woven blanket beneath her feet.

Eren took one more step back, and the soggy ground gave out beneath him. He lost his grip on the fishing rod as he slipped, sinking, the suddenly black water closing in over his head. When he flailed his way back to the surface his mom was gone, and the shoreline was somehow much, much further away.

This time when he went under he didn’t come back up.

As he sank, he slipped into a new dream. This one wasn’t as old, but it was far more terrifying.

He lay curled up on his side, shivering, his back pressed against the wall. He’d learned that if he stayed in one position long enough his body heat would penetrate the thick cement at least enough that he could fall asleep. The metal wire wrapped around his wrists and ankles felt like icicles against his raw skin, and his thin shirt did little to protect him from the sharp grittiness of the cement, but he’d started to appreciate the milder discomforts.

It helped distract him from the dark. The cold was bone deep, but the dark was worse.

There was probably a window somewhere in the room outside his prison, just near enough to make the long wedge of empty space at the base of the heavy metal door a lighter shade of black. The strip faded and brightened through the day and night, never enough to be much more than an absence of dark. At first he’d found it comforting. As if it were a way to prove to himself that everything he knew still existed.

But he was starting to hate that almost-light.

Right now, his world consisted of a narrow cement box, not quite long enough for him to completely stretch out his legs. He had an old paint bucket for a toilet, and a growing stack of the plastic bottles and paper plates that got wedged beneath his door every morning.

His head jerked up when he heard a noise, stairs creaking beneath someone’s weight. It wasn’t Bertrand’s shuffle, or Reiner’s heavy tread.

As the footsteps moved closer, Eren knew for certain. This was someone else.

The voice deep in his head screamed a warning, but this part of the dream was a memory, and memories were hard to change. 

Eren swallowed. He’d spent days yelling and shouting and calling for anybody, until he hadn’t been able to make any sound at all. “Help. Help me.” His voice was scratchy, hoarse, but louder than he’d thought possible. “Let me out.”

The footsteps stopped somewhere in the room beyond. Eren’s heart thrummed in his ears as he heard something heavy sliding across the floor, and watched the light he’d started to hate disappear from beneath the door.

Eren’s breath froze in his throat. He stared at the spot the light had been. That part of him that knew he was dreaming screamed, frantic, telling him to stop, to get out. To wake up.

But of course, he couldn’t.

His hands were cuffed in front of him, his ankles chained together, and there wasn’t enough room for him to stand up, but as the footsteps got closer Eren got to his feet and crouched, bracing himself to do _something_. He heard keys sliding into the locks on his door. That part of him that already knew what came next went quiet.

As the door creaked open, Eren was as ready to run as he could possibly be, but he wasn’t ready for the fist that came out from the total darkness. He flew back, his head cracking loudly against a wall.

Disoriented, he lay on the floor, trying to grasp what was happening, to work out where he’d landed, which way he needed to go to get away. The bone beneath his eye throbbed, and something wet trailed down the side of his face from his scalp.

"Eren."

A large hand gripped his ankle and started dragging him along the rough cement floor.

“Eren.”

His leg was free now, but as Eren tried to move, to get up on his hands and knees, a broad, solid boot landed in his stomach, kicking him back onto the ground. The ringing in his ears was so loud he couldn’t hear anything else. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t breathe.

“Eren. Wake up.”

Gasping, Eren opened his eyes.

Levi leaned over him, hands lightly bracketing Eren’s face, the concern in his eyes clearly lit by the warm yellow light of the bedside lamp. They were in his bed, in his bedroom. With a muffled moan, Eren threw his arms around Levi and buried his face in the warm skin of his neck.  “I’m okay. I’m okay.”

“Yeah.” Levi scooted up the bed, taking Eren with him. He braced his back with the pillows as Eren curled tightly into him. “I know.”

A cool, comforting hand brushed the sweat-soaked hair back from Eren’s forehead. He tried to settle his ragged breathing, tried to sound light, airy. “Haven’t had one of those in a while.”

Levi wordlessly tightened the arm still wrapped around Eren’s shoulders.

With a long, shuddering breath, Eren gave up the effort to look like he really was okay. He closed his eyes as he turned fully into Levi, letting Levi’s hands and the steady heartbeat in the chest beneath his ear help start smoothing away the sharp edges of the nightmare.

“I’m a terrible person.”

The fingers stroking through his hair never paused. “No, you aren’t.”

“I am. I want them gone. I don’t want to ever have to see them again.”

“But you won’t let Erwin run them out of town, will you.”

Eren buried his nose in Levi’s skin. “No.”

Levi snorted. “You’re so far from a terrible person.”

Letting out another shaky sigh, Eren felt the rigid tension in his muscles finally start to ease. “It wasn’t really ever – it isn’t Reiner, or Bert. I just don’t want to remember. I was starting to do so well too.” Lifting his head, he found Levi watching him. “I can ride in cars now. Sometimes.”

“You said.”

“Oh, yeah. I kind of blurted it out.” Eren pouted. “I planned out this whole surprise thing. I was trying to impress you.”

“You impress me all the damn time.”

Eren felt the warmth of Levi’s words resonate inside his chest, dispelling a little more of the shadowy lump left behind by his dreams. There was no doubt in his mind that Levi cared for him, regarded him as special, but Levi didn’t often use words to express it.

The corner of Levi’s mouth twisted up. He stroked a thumb across Eren’s cheek, wiping away the last of the drying wetness left behind by the tears Eren was trying not to feel too embarrassed about. “There’s your eyes.”

Eren blinked, and then rolled the eyes in question. “Really? My eyes?”

“Yeah.” Levi nodded, his own eyes lightening with amusement. “They’ve got me actually looking forward to handling manure every day.”

Eren wrinkled his nose. “You mean you want to work on the ranch just because of my eyes? That doesn’t sound all that great.”

Levi rested his head back against the headboard, heavy lids drooping, half covering his eyes and his mouth curling into one of his true smiles. “Well, there’s also your ass.”

Surprised, Eren let out a short laugh, reflexively glancing down at the body part in question. “My ass?”

“It’s very impressive.”

“It is not.”

Levi’s eyebrow arched up. “I disagree. It’s an incredible ass.” He angled his head to the side. “But it’s been a while. Maybe I should check it again.” He pulled away, and - moving with his customary speed - he’d swung his leg over and was straddling the backs of Eren’s thighs before the younger man could get another word out.

Bracing a hand on the mattress, Eren craned his neck to look back over his shoulder. “What are you-” He broke off, eyes wide, as he watched Levi tug down his pajama bottoms.

Spreading his fingers out wide, Levi gently gripped the flesh of Eren’s butt and squeezed, testing it's firmness. “Yeah.” He nodded. “Very impressive.”

Eren spluttered, his arm going weak. As he fell back to the bed he couldn’t stop laughing long enough to form clear words.

Levi dropped down to the mattress beside Eren and pulled him back into his arms. “Believe me now?”

The lingering unease from the dreams had faded away to very nearly nothing. Eren was grinning as his mouth met Levi’s.   

He had his own hand just edging beneath the elastic of Levi’s pajama bottoms when Levi pulled away to glance back at the window.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nearly daylight.” 

Eren blinked at the still dark window, baffled. “Uh huh. So?”

“I’m just not sure the lock on the door is going to be enough.”

As if on queue, the door slammed open, Eren jerked as Mikasa walked in, her hand over her eyes and her head turned away from the bed.

“Time to get up.”

Eren arched his head back until he could read the alarm clock. “What the hell, Mikasa? It’s not even five-thirty yet.”

“We have to make up for yesterday.”  

“Why? What happened yes-” Eren’s voice turned into a gasp when Levi’s teeth nibbled at the skin over his collar bone.

Mikasa whistled loudly.

Eren heard the skitter of nails across wood and a moment later the dogs careened into the room, heading straight across the room and hopping up on the bed. As Sunny enthusiastically circled the mattress, sniffing at everything and Eren fought off Bean's wet tongue, he saw Mikasa turn on her heel and head back towards the door. 

“I’m making breakfast today. Be there in fifteen minutes.”


	5. Morning - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Levi's first morning as a member of the Shinganshina household, and its going about as well as can be expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while :) 
> 
> I'm trying to finish up all my unfinished fics, and this is the first of them. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as belated as it is!

 

Ten minutes later Levi stepped out of the bathroom, a towel draped around his hips. He glanced over at the bed and shook his head as he realized Eren still hadn’t moved. The dogs weren’t being of much help – Sunny draped across the small of Eren’s back, and Bean curled up on the pillow by Eren’s face.

“Eren. You’ll miss breakfast.”

“I’d rather sleep in, if morning sex is out.” But Eren obligingly pushed himself up, dislodging the dogs as he shifted to sit on the side of the bed. He’d spoken easily enough, but his blush and slightly embarrassed grin made a lie of his attempt at smoothness.

Eyeing Eren’s face, Levi had the strongest urge to climb right back into bed beside him for the rest of the day. Only the fact that he’d have to deal with interference from the dogs, as well as Mikasa, Hanji, probably Erwin, and who the hell knew who else kept him where he was.

It’d be better if he could carry Eren off to some very distant hotel - with room service - where they could spend a week or so in bed, uninterrupted.

But then, he’d tried that already. It had only left him wanting more.  

Eren had been looking down at Bean, who’d wiggled over to his lap in the hopes of enticing him to lay back down for more cuddling, but his head popped up instantly when Levi dropped his towel into the laundry hamper. As Levi padded across the room to pull underwear out of what had become his half of the dresser, he felt Eren’s eyes openly skimming over his body.

Hand absently scratching behind Bean’s ears, Eren’s expressive face clearly showed both his appreciation and his frustration. He was also a little pale behind the faint flush on his cheeks, and Levi didn’t think the dark smudges beneath his eyes had been there last night.

Despite Eren’s earlier comment, Levi doubted he’d gone back to sleep while Levi had been in the shower – though he was fairly sure that the shadows had more to do with the dream Levi had woken him from than a simple lack of rest. Or maybe a little of both.  

Making a mental note to make sure they got to bed – and sleep - early that night, Levi tugged a cotton tee over his head, and then had to angle his face away to hide his amusement when he heard Eren’s loud, disappointed sigh as the fabric dropped down to cover Levi’s chest.

While Eren still lacked some in self-assurance, he more than made up for it with an enthusiasm that Levi found himself _beyond_ addicted to.

When Levi pulled on his sweater, Eren finally dragged himself up off of the bed. With a long stretch, he headed to the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him.

“I’m going downstairs.” Levi called after him.

Eren muttered something Levi didn’t quite catch, but he thought he heard the words ‘cockblocking’, ‘sister’, and ‘padlock’.

“Eren?”

“Sure, sure. Be down in a minute.”

Levi was grinning to himself when he stepped out onto the landing, the dogs following him out as they sensed there was nothing more of benefit to them there. The balcony was empty, with no trace of the other occupants of the house, though he smelled something cooking downstairs. The dogs clearly did too as they quickly clattered across the floorboards and disappeared down the stairs ahead of him.

Levi crossed the landing at a more sedate pace, taking a moment to study the view through the wall of windows that made up the front of the tall, gabled house. It was still dark out, though the pre-dawn light was enough for him to make out the bulk of distant houses on the far side of the lake. The forest that occupied all the spaces in between and behind was still a patchwork of dark greys, without the help of the sun to pick out the reds, yellows, oranges, and greens of early autumn. In daylight, the view was like something out of a tourist magazine.

To Levi it looked more like a security nightmare.

As he padded down the wide stone staircase, he had to shake his head, yet again, at this home that Hanji had built. He’d heard, and been concerned enough to make some inquiries when he’d heard Hanji had left the service to take guardianship of the young son of a civilian doctor the military had been working with, and who had, apparently, gone rogue.

And since Hanji’s almost uncanny intelligence was very nearly matched by her absolute lack of any sense of self-preservation, he’d been unsurprised to find most of her former team considered her to have lost what remained of her sanity in doing what she’d done. Which had – evidently - included violating a few hundred regulations in order to destroy every scrap of information that doctor had left behind, both by stripping what remained of his research facility in the basement of the home he’d tried to burn to the ground, and in wiping all backups from the military’s own computer systems.

Only the fact that they still needed her mind had kept her out of jail. That, and the fact that several high ranking officers had backed her actions.

Still, no one had expected her to formally adopt the kid, let alone build a damn palace where his old house had stood. Levi had heard enough from Erwin and Mike – who had been two of the officers to stand with her through it all – to know there were still a few misguided idiots who thought she had hopes of finishing Doctor Yeager’s research, that she was aiming for some sort of personal glory.  

Clearly the fools had never had more than a five minute conversation with her.   

As undeniably bright as Hanji was, there wasn’t a whiff of egotism in her personality. Self-interest had never motivated her in anything, let alone in her habit of adopting every ‘misunderstood’ violent, evil-minded animal she came across. The opposite, in fact.

After all, her first reaction to finding Levi – when she’d known fuck all about him - had been to drag him to her apartment, set up a mattress on the floor of her own bedroom and all but knock him out to make sure he slept there instead of the park bench he’d been happy enough with.

So he’d dismissed most of what he’d heard, assumed she’d had reasons for what she’d done, and largely ignored the few mentions he’d heard about the kid and the house over the years. He’d picked up some specifics from idle remarks Mike, Erwin, and Hanji’s assistant Moblit made, and later, from the other two she eventually adopted.

He’d known the kid was decent, that he had a temper, and that he was doing alright, despite some hard knocks. He’d known the house was big, secured, and that Hanji had spent a lot of money on it.

He hadn’t thought he’d ever need to know any more than that, right up until the day he’d stumbled through a blizzard to fall through the front door of this giant, larger than life house, and woken up wrapped in the warmth of that same, now grown-up kid.   

Taking the last step, Levi turned towards the smell of frying bacon, noticing that no-one had laid places out on the giant slab of a table just outside the kitchen. Of course, if Mikasa was cooking that would be Eren’s chore.  

He stepped into the kitchen, only Mikasa’s stiffened back acknowledging that she was aware of his presence. She already had several platters of food ready, so Levi wordlessly washed his hands and started pulling plates from the cupboard. Seeing as she’d roused the house hours earlier than they’d usually be up, he didn’t think anyone would be annoyed at Eren for not being down early enough to do the chore.

Besides, it meant he would do the cleaning up, and Levi trusted him to do that almost as well as he did.

As he made his way between the kitchen and the table the silence was filled with the sizzle of oil, the click of plates and silverware, and the loud snuffling of the dogs as they ate from their bowls under the giant, watchful eyes of Moe, crouched several feet away, only the tip of his tail twitching.

He’d just finished setting out the last of the places when Armin walked in, damp hair twisted into a knot at the base of his neck. His glance flickered between Levi and Mikasa, and he didn’t bother to suppress his clear amusement at the relatively silent tableaux.

“Good morning.”

He smiled in his gentlest way at Levi, but Levi was aware of the reserve in his eyes. Armin wasn’t in any way as overt as Mikasa, but Levi was well aware that neither of Eren’s foster siblings were all that happy to have him in their brother’s life.

“Morning.” Levi nodded at Armin, and turned to make his first cup of tea from the kettle boiling on the counter.

This was, after all, not the first time he’d been unwelcome. He’d deal.   

“Such an early start today, Mikasa.” Armin stepped up beside his sister, a companionable hand on the small her back as his other snaked out towards the bacon she’d already set out on one of the platters.  

“We have to make up for yesterday.” But her voice didn’t sound as severe as it had when she’d said the same thing to Eren upstairs, even as she lightly slapped his hand away from the bacon.  

“Uh-huh.” Unabashed, Armin grinned at his sister, a teasing note in his voice. He grabbed one of the other platters and started out towards the big table. “Didn’t you say something last night about how much more you’d gotten done yesterday with all of us out of the way?”

Mikasa wrinkled her nose after her brother, but whatever response she might have made was cut short by the noisy entrance of Hanji, wearing floppy slippers and a voluminous, well-worn bathrobe. 

“Riri!” She grinned at him, even as she grabbed her own oversize mug, set out and ready for her as it always was, and stepped across the room towards the pot of coffee brewing on the counter beside the kettle.

“We really need to discuss that nickname, Hanji.”

“Nope.” Hanji set the pot down and turned, resting her back against the counter, the wide grin on her face not at all hidden by the mug she held to her lips. “I won that bet, fair and square. You can’t stop me.”

Levi cocked his head to the side, relaxing, in spite of himself, in the face of her ease in his presence. “I heard a rumor a few years back. Something about you, and a new form of card-marking ink.”

Hanji’s eyed glittered at him through the steam rising from her coffee. “Prove it.”

Armin had come back into the kitchen in time to hear the last exchange. He smiled at his foster mother with affection as he reached between them to grab the coffee pot. “She _is_ banned from three-quarters of the casinos in Vegas.” The glance he shot at Levi as he turned to carry the pot out to the table was _almost_ neutral. “They can’t actually prove anything either, though.”

Levi eyed Hanji’s smug face, taking a sip of his own tea. “Cheating voids the bet.”

“Only if you get caught.” Her eyes were bright and alive with enjoyment. “Even Mike agreed to those terms.”

“Then it’s long past time for a rematch.”

“You don’t have anything valuable enough to make me stop. _Riri_.”

It was hard for Levi to decide which was stronger, the urge to respond to the strong joy on Hanji’s face, or the familiar irritation that she never had to work all that hard to arouse in him. “ _Hanji_.”

It was Hanji who laughed, the sound ringing loudly through the room, cooling his annoyance almost instantly. She grinned happily at him. “I really am so glad to have you here.”

Levi was thrown, but felt a reluctant smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “That’s good. I’m not leaving.”

Her smile turned a little rueful, clearly understanding as she turned to look in the direction of the other two, who, from the sound of things, were mildly disagreeing over the placement of the something on the table.

“Hmm. They’ll come around. Don’t worry so much.”

“I’m not worried.” Deciding she was trying to irritate him again, Levi reached out to flick a wet strand of the hair that trailed over the worn collar of her bathrobe. “You actually cleaned up? I’m honored.”

She wrinkled her nose in a move so clearly similar to her foster daughter’s only minutes earlier that Levi blinked, startled. But then, she’d been parenting the girl for a good many years now. “It has nothing to do with you. I always shower.”

“That’s not the way I remember it.” Levi finished off his cup and pushed away from the counter, turning to follow the now three voices outside the kitchen, Hanji following him.

“Yeah, yeah. I just get busy with stuff sometimes.”

“Which is always”

“Don’t be an ass.” She nudged him aside with her hip so she could step out through the kitchen doorway ahead of him, and then stopped dead just past it.

Levi’s reflexes had him easily sidestepping, but as he saw what had stopped her he couldn’t quite suppress his sigh.

Evidently, the argument they’d heard had been over Mikasa pre-portioning out all the food. Each plate was now piled high with towers of toast, eggs, and bacon. Except for Levi’s, of course, which held only a single, tiny, burned piece of toast.

Hanji set her hands on her hips, grinning widely at Eren and Mikasa, who each held one side of the platter they’d been wrestling over, and Armin, who was trying not to laugh as he pushed the two apart, while also attempting to keep the remaining food from falling off the platter.

“Early start, huh? You’re all so enthusiastic today.”

Levi felt something brush against his ankle, and looked down to find Moe stalking past him, bulging eyes fixed firmly on a piece of bacon that had already dropped to the floor.  

Mikasa was the first to let go of the platter. She stuck her hands in her pockets, not meeting Hanji’s eyes as she eased into her seat. “We have to make up for yesterday.”

Hanji danced around the table, ruffling Mikasa’s hair fondly even as she winked at Levi. “Sure, sure. Well then. Breakfast. I’m starving. Lots to do.” She dropped into her own seat, beside Mikasa, and grinned back at Armin and Eren “You gonna stand around all day?”

“Ah. No.” Clasping the platter tightly, Eren smiled at Levi. “I’ve got your breakfast.”

“I see that.” The kid was so damn cute.

Flushing a little, Eren made his way towards his seat beside Armin, opposite Levi, who sat on the same side as Mikasa with Hanji firmly between them.

Breakfast was mostly, relatively, peaceful after that. Levi found himself sitting back in his chair, eyes tracking from face to face.  The family was clearly a good, solid unit, despite their assorted origins – or maybe partly because of. The three siblings occasionally sniped at each other, though their affection shone through even that. Both Eren and Hanji were loud, at all times, and Levi had always thought of Armin and Mikasa as quiet, reserved, even a little weak. They certainly had been at least the first of those things the few times he’d met them in professional settings.

But now, all four were at ease, and even as Eren’s voice grew louder and louder as he debated the best plan for the day with Mikasa, he’d shut his mouth and listen when she spoke, though he’d be ready to attempt another argument as soon as she finished, and when Armin told Hanji she needed to arrange for a proper home for her latest adoptee –  a bad tempered cockatoo who’d decided Moblit was his, and would attack anyone who came within five feet of Hanji’s assistant – she listened, sighed sadly, and agreed.  

As Levi finished off his second cup of tea, he wondered at the family they clearly had become. He’d never known anything like this – he’d only ever had one family member at a time. Except, of course, those few years he’d spent in the same apartment as Hanji, Mike, and Erwin, though with their class schedules they’d rarely managed to all be in the same place at the same time, let alone manage group meals. Still, it had been good while it lasted, and he’d genuinely missed it when first Hanji, then the other two had graduated and formally joined the service.

Maybe that had been why he’d followed them. He hadn’t particularly had any other plans. He’d mostly liked his work – or at least, he’d been good at it. From the little he knew of his uncle, he thought espionage might have been in his blood. By the time he’d realized it would be almost impossible to get out, he hadn’t truly cared enough to resist. He had enough money through Hanji’s investment of his paychecks that he could indulge in whatever he wanted, whenever he had time. He’d figured he’d eventually wind up dead and that would be that.

There had been more and more reasons to leave, but even his last attempt at quitting probably would have gone as well as any of the others, except for the chance that had brought him to the young, brown haired man now sitting across from him, green eyes glancing at him with clear concern for his long silence.

Levi let his lips curve in a reassuring smile, and reached out for the kettle. Now, all that mattered was protecting Eren, and ensuring they had a long a life together as he could manage.

“Hey, Le- _Riri_.” Hanji had turned to face Levi, “Erwin still got you at the paperwork today?”

“Yes. He’s either trying a new form of torture, or he’s expecting me to handle all of his backlog since he took over.”

“He’ll have to start paying you soon, if you keep doing all his work for him.”

Armin snorted. “I do most of your paperwork and you don’t pay _me_ for it.”

“Right.” Hanji beamed happily at him. “And I love you for it.”

Armin just rolled his eyes, and started clearing the table.

Eren had clearly deflated slightly at the news that Levi would be away. “Will you be back late?” he asked.

“No, especially if I get an early start this morning.”

Hanji set down her cup with a loud click, eyes firmly fixed on Eren’s face as she spoke. “It’ll be sooner for you if you go to town and surprise him again.”

Eren didn’t notice the deliberate tone of her words. “Sure, I can come after-”

But then he cut himself off. Biting his lip, he looked down at his plate, clearly remembering the encounter of the day before.

In the stillness that followed, Armin and Mikasa exchanged a quick, unreadable glance, Hanji’s mouth firmed into a solid line, her expression altogether devoid of any of her usual cheerfulness.

Deliberately, Levi shoved back his chair and stood, breaking the silence and attracting everyone’s gaze. “I’ll be back early enough that it won’t matter, in any case.”

Mikasa stood too, and started noisily stacking plates. “Besides. You need to finish fixing up that Jeep you bought, Eren, before you go spending your days in town. All I heard for weeks was how you’d be driving us all around, but soon it’ll be winter and no-one will go anywhere near the thing.”

“Not everyone hates cold as much as you do, Mikasa.” Willingly distracted, Eren smiled up at her.

“Cold or not, riding in an open jeep through bad weather does not sound like fun. For anyone.”

“You bought a Jeep?” Levi asked, a little surprised Eren hadn’t told him.

“Ah.” And now Eren smiled sheepishly at Levi. “It was meant to be a surprise, when you got here. I was hoping to have it ready so I could drive you around, but it’s still got some issues.” He made a face at his sister’s snort. “It’s still in pieces in the garage right now.”  

“I should have some time to help this afternoon.” Armin said, “Especially as Hanji will be out most of the day.”

“I will?”

“You have that walkthrough with Pixis, remember?”

“Oh. Right.” Hanji sighed. “I forgot.”

“Uh-huh. That’s why I reminded you last night.”

“You did?”

“He did.” Levi and Mikasa both answered at the same time. Mikasa sniffed, and firmly shoved her chair in under the table before heading towards the stairs.

She had her foot on the bottom step when a short alarm beeped from three places in the room. Instantly, Mikasa, Eren and Armin reached into their pockets to pull out their phones, and Hanji reached for her bathrobe pocket, making a face when she realized she didn’t have hers with her.

Armin spoke first. “One of the cameras in the northeast sector went out.”

Levi stiffened. “Is that normal?”

Eren nodded, smiling up at him as he spoke. “Sure. Tree branches, bad weather, small animals, wind. We still check it out, of course.”  

“I’ll go.” Once again, both Mikasa and Levi spoke at the same time, and this time Mikasa all but growled in response.

Hanji clapped her hands. “Oh, this is perfect. Mikasa, you can show Levi around.” She turned to face Levi. “I’m sure you’re curious about our security system, right?”

“I am.”  

Clearly struggling, Mikasa glared at her foster mother, but a few seconds later clearly gave in, throwing up her hands. “Fine. But we leave in five minutes, and we take separate cars.” Her glare shifted to Levi. “You can take off from there as soon as we’re done so I don’t have to drive your ass around.” She turned on her heel and stomped up the stairs.

Levi turned back to Hanji. “You said something about ‘coming around’?”

She grinned at him. “Eventually.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exposition heavy, and I'm sorry for that, but this is the first Levi POV chapter where he's not being all mysterious-like, so there was a lot to get out. 
> 
> I also know my style is shifting as time goes by, and seeing as this chapter starts ten minutes after the last one but took like two years to post I realize that may be weird. Hopefully not too weird.


	6. Morning - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely comments, I'm very glad to be back and writing again!

“I need a padlock. A really, really good one.” Eren slumped over the back of one of the lab’s office chairs, spinning slowly.

“Hmm.” Armin made a non-committal sound, not raising his eyes from the series of printouts he had spread out across the table.

“Maybe a deadbolt.”

“Uh-huh.”

The blinking lights and bright screens of the lab blurred in front of Eren’s eyes as he kicked off yet again. And then, suddenly remembering something, Eren set his feet on the ground, bringing the chair to a halt as he sat up, excited. “Remember those big heavy ones we used on the holding cells, when Hanji found that lot of smuggled monkeys?”

“Mmm.”

“ _They_ might work.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you remember where we put them, after?”

“I imagine they’re probably in the barn.”

“Really?” For a brief minute, Eren stayed upright, deep in thought. Then with a long sigh, he slumped back down again. “That won’t do it. Mikasa knows them well enough already, she’d have no trouble getting through.” He whirled in the chair again, stretching enough to let the tip of his shoe catch on the legs of the table nearest him, making a soft thunk with every turn.

“Eren.”

“Yeah?”

“Those computers really are very sensitive.”

“Oh. Oops.” Eren used his heels to pull himself to a halt, eying the bank of ancient equipment sitting on the table he’d been shaking. They were old, and ran on some operating system he’d never heard of. Armin had dragged them in to research a new encryption program the military types were all salivating over.

Deliberately, Eren scooted the chair a foot away before looking up and meeting Armin’s amused eyes. “Sorry.”

“I doubt you did any damage.” And resting a hip on the table he’d been working on, Armin gave Eren his full attention. “If you’re that bothered, I can put in a fingerprint lock? We may even have a retinal scanner sitting around in storage.”

Eren let himself consider it, before shaking his head. “No, it’s not really that big a deal. Yet.” He smiled ruefully up at his tall, blond foster brother. “And besides, she’d get through either of those in a week, at the most.”

Armin’s eyes gleamed, the look on his face sharpening into an expression Eren knew all too well. “Not if I do it right.”  

_Oops._

Since the last thing Eren wanted to do was start a new rivalry between his siblings, he quickly shook his head, lifting his hands into the air. “No, really. It’s fine.” His normally even-tempered brother and his quiet but intense sister were more than capable of all but bringing the house down in one of their infrequent competitions. “I’m really just complaining out loud.”

“You sure?”

“Sure.” And Eren paused, before shrugging diffidently. “I don’t think I’d be able to deal with any new locks on my door, anyway.”

“Ah.” Armin blinked, and then his expression relaxed into a smile. “Fine. But let me know if you change your mind.”

“I will.” Eren hesitated, and then bit his lip as he studied his brother carefully. “Can I ask you a question?”

Armin’s eyebrows flew up at his brother’s unusual hesitancy. “Of course.”

“You aren’t really happy with Levi being here either, are you? Why would you help us have se- I mean, help stop Mikasa from- well.” He let out an exasperated breath. “You know what I mean.”

Armin considered Eren. “That’s two questions.”

“ _Armin_.”

“No actually, I mean that, Eren. Those are two entirely different things. You’re an adult, and you should have your privacy, at least.” And then Armin grinned, his face lighting up with sudden warmth. “Besides, if you can’t have sex in your room who _knows_ where you’ll end up, and I’m the one who has to delete the footage every time you two forget where the cameras are.”

Eren felt his cheeks heat, and closed his eyes to block out his brother’s amused expression. “I’ve tried really hard not to think about that.”

Armin laughed, turning back to his papers.  

Letting the silence lengthen, Eren twisted the chair he sat in back and forth, resting his arms on the back as he watched his brother slowly immerse himself in his work. He very nearly decided to leave the conversation there.

But it would eat at him, he knew.

“Armin?”

“Uh-huh?”

“Why don’t you like Levi?”

Armin didn’t look up at first, and for a moment Eren thought he wasn’t going to get an answer. When Armin did finally lift his face, he studied Eren for a long moment before speaking. “I don’t dislike him.”

“That’s not really an answer.”

“No, it’s not. There is a lot to admire in him.” Armin’s eyes were soft, a little troubled, though Eren couldn’t read much else in his expression. “And I do like him, really. I just-”

When Armin didn’t continue, Eren spoke. “He _is_ a good person.” He hesitated, but couldn’t stop himself from adding, “Essentially.” 

Armin let out a short laugh, in spite of his seriousness. “Yes, essentially. And I don’t think he intends to cause you any harm.”

“Oh.” Eren caught the wording. “Is this about his old job? Because even Erwin said he didn’t think there was much danger of-”

“No. No, I know he’s done everything he can on that. We just worry about you.” He shook his head, as if shaking off the subject, and then grinned. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll all settle down soon enough. Even Mikasa will give in, eventually.”

Eren couldn’t help his groan. “Promise?”

“Nope.” Armin grinned. “But she can’t keep this up forever.”

“And now, Eren.” Clearly intending to change the subject, Armin set his arms on his hips, cocking his head at his brother. “Not that I mind your company, but don’t you have your own work to do?”

Not unhappy to drop the subject, Eren let himself be led. “I fed all the animals, except the cats. Mikasa really did handle a lot yesterday, so there wasn’t much to do in the barn.” Eren couldn’t work much enthusiasm into his voice as he continued, “I guess I can work on the Jeep.”

“Don’t you want to? You were so excited for it.”

“I _am_. I love the car.” Eren sighed, slumping down in the chair. “But I have no idea why it won’t even _start_ anymore.”  

“Ah.” Armin glanced at the clock on the wall. “Give me an hour. Maybe I can help.”

“Really?” Eren perked up. He hadn’t even been able to work out what questions to ask – he knew plenty about bikes, but this was his first actual car.

“In any case, Hanji wanted me to integrate a few additions.”

Eren couldn’t help his wince at that. “Nothing too… spectacular, right?”

“Nope, just some extra safety features.” Armin grinned at Eren.

“Well, in that case.” Eren stood, and moved towards the door. “I’ll get set up.” He had his hand on the handle when his brother’s voice stopped him.

“Eren?”

Looking over his shoulder, Eren was surprised to see the uncertainty on Armin’s face. “What is it, Armin?”

But whatever Armin would have said was cut off by a quick, electronic chirp from the security system, quickly followed by a beep from both of their phones.

Instantly, both made their way across the room to the series of screens that showed the feed from the security cameras. It was easy to see what was wrong –  a second small square on one of the screens had gone black.

Without speaking, Armin tapped on the controls, filling one screen with the black square, and then rewinding until they could see the usual scene of forest and leaf covered ground. Neither said anything as they watched carefully, and when the screen went black again, Armin rewound further.

“Are you seeing anything?”

Eren shook his head. “Nothing. You?”

“No. I’m not.”

Armin’s phone rang, and he set it to speaker as he answered. “You heard the notification?”

“Yes.” Mikasa’s voice was terse. Eren could hear the rustle of wind in the background.

“We watched the footage, can’t see anything. Just the screen going black.”

“I didn’t- neither of us saw anything near the first camera that went out. It looked like maybe a small animal tried to chew on the wires.”

“That has happened before, but a second one going out isn’t usual.”

“No. We checked the closest roads, can’t see any signs of unusual tire tracks.”

“I guess it could just be a coincidence.” And Armin’s voice clearly showed how little he trusted that possibility. 

Mikasa was silent for a long moment. “It isn’t impossible, I guess. We’ll go check it out.”

“Alright. It’s on the eastern edge, in that copse of beech trees on the hill overlooking the lake.” 

“Ugh. That’s miles from here.”

“Yes it is.” And Armin grinned. “It’s remote enough that you’ll probably need to take your truck, leave Levi’s car behind.” He waited a beat. “That’ll give you more time to talk.”

“Oh, boy. Just what I wanted to spend my morning doing.” Her lack of enthusiasm was palpable, though Eren was slightly gratified to not hear too much actual anger in her voice.  

As he hung up, Armin grinned back at Eren. “Hopefully they’ll both make it back.”

“Yeah.” Eren didn’t bother stifling his sigh. “Hopefully.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hopefully I'll be able to keep up with one chapter a week (or better! maybe!) until I catch up on all my unfinished fics. We shall see :)


	7. Morning - Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi is on a field trip with Mikasa, and it isn't going entirely as expected.

Mikasa switched off the engine, plunging the inside of the truck into abrupt silence. A second later she’d pushed open her door and smoothly hopped down to the ground. She didn’t bother holding back as she slammed the door shut behind her, but then, the roar of the truck’s engine would have already alerted anyone nearby to their presence.

Left behind in the truck, Levi opened his own door, but stayed in his seat a moment longer, taking in the view around them.

Thick tree trunks closed in tightly on either side of the narrow dirt track that served as a road, the canopy above thick enough to mute the light despite the few bright patches on the ground that told him the sun was now well up and doing its best to break through.

He had to admit, to himself at least, that he hadn’t ever particularly thought of any one forest as something distinguishable from another –  a bunch of trees was a bunch of trees, after all. But even without the occasionally pithy remark from Mikasa it hadn’t taken him long to see there were fundamental differences, even within the borders of the Shinganshina Ranch property.

He could see this area was denser, more a true wilderness than the section of forest they’d driven through that morning, with fallen trees left to slowly decompose back into the forest floor where they’d landed – if they’d made it that far, and hadn’t been caught up by the branches of their still standing neighbors. There were fewer evergreens here, and most of the trees jutted up for several meters before spreading out into the canopy above, leaving the tangle of weeds and vines to fill what gaps were left around their bases.

As he slid out of the truck and to the ground, Levi let himself indulge in a moment of gratitude that Mikasa had parked more or less in the center of the road and he hadn’t been forced to jump out directly into the thorny mess bordering it.  

Though he doubted she hadn’t thought of it.

Still, he’d been surprised by her restraint all morning. So far she hadn’t aimed more than a few almost half-hearted barbs in his direction, and during the long drive had mostly kept silent when she hadn’t been giving him the specifics of the security system – with all the warmth of a drill sergeant.

He’d actually found it made the trip almost pleasant.

He wondered what she’d do if she ever found out she’d drive him up the wall far more easily if she started _chatting_ at him, or worse, if she forced him to try and make small talk.

He sincerely hoped she never worked that out.

Slipping along the side of the tuck, Levi made his way to the small gap in the wall of forest Mikasa had vanished through. There was a single, even narrower dirt track heading deeper into the woods and he could just see her back disappearing up a slope that started a meter or so away from the road.

He followed, placing his feet in the faint tracks she’d left behind. This trail, like the road behind them, was clearly maintained regularly, though the tangle of ever-hardy weeds catching at his legs told him there wasn’t much traffic out this way.

In fact, Levi couldn’t see any easy way for anything larger than a raccoon to take the path - let alone get through the underbrush on either side - without leaving a very visible trail behind them.

He felt a little more of the tension in his shoulders ease. Everything Mikasa had shown him of the property so far told him that the family had been very, very clever in planning out their security system. He’d wondered when she’d told him – in as few words as she could manage – that this part of the property only had a few cameras, though there were some motion and weight sensors buried in the road.

But he was starting to understand their reasoning.

The path curved up steeply, and Levi was a little surprised when he reached the end of the trail and the view in front of him suddenly opened up. They were at the edge of a large clearing and he could see now, as he hadn’t been able to in the thick of the forest, how close they were to the lake.

In fact, the side of the hill sloped down steeply all along its length, ending in a small, sharp, bank at the water’s edge. He could see part of the opposite shore, though from here there was no sign of any of the neighbor’s houses.

Levi found he couldn’t take his eyes off the view. There was something almost hypnotic about it.

“Over here. It’s this one.”

Levi turned at Mikasa’s voice. Even following her gaze into the tree above her head and knowing what the camera looked like, it was hard to pick out. “It’s the same type as the other one?”

“Yes.”

She’d explained to him –  not as grudgingly as he’d have expected –  that some of the cameras ran non-stop, while others were activated by motion. The camera they’d checked earlier had been one of the continuously recording ones. “I don’t see any signs of tampering, from here.”

“No. I’ll check it.” And instantly moving into action, she shimmied up the tree just as quickly as she’d gone up the first, earlier that morning. Hitching herself up onto a branch, braced against the trunk, she pulled on a pair of gloves and peeled off the camera’s protective silicone shield. Her hands were competent and quick as she slid back the cover on its base and started inspecting the boards inside.

Levi left her to it and started checking the ground around the tree’s base. Finding nothing, he spread out, sectioning the clearing into larger and larger circles. As before, he found no tracks, nor any clear sign that any human had been there anytime recently. He found a few hoof prints, which explained the few broken blades of grass.

He might not know forests in particular all that well, but he knew plenty about tracking humans. If anyone had been there they were damn good at covering their trail.

He’d reached the far end of the clearing when he heard rustling behind him, and turned to find Mikasa sliding back down to the ground. She had the camera tucked into her jacket.

The scowl on her face told him what she’d found even before he asked.

“Same?”

“Yes. Nothing that can’t be explained.” Mikasa’s voice was grim, and Levi knew she was as unhappy with the idea as he was. She frowned down at the camera, turning it over carefully in her still gloved hands before reluctantly continuing. “There was enough damage to the casing –  it _could_ be an animal.”

“But you don’t think it is.”

She glared up at him. “No. You don’t either.”

“No. I don’t. I can’t see any tracks. Human ones anyway. Just like the first camera.”

Still glaring at him, she said nothing for a long second, and then huffed out a breath when she finally looked away. “I hate coincidences.”

The words were a mutter, but they were the closest thing to a personal comment he’d ever heard from her. “The only thing coincidences mean is we haven’t found the connection yet.”

She blinked, genuine surprise on her face. “I forgot. Hanji used to say that all the time.”

“Did she?” Levi wondered if it had been Hanji who came up with the line, or if he had. Hell, for all he knew it could have been Erwin or Mike. “This is the edge of the property line?”

“Almost.” She nodded to the north and west, “It goes another half mile out, then it becomes military land. They have their own security.”

“Will they tell Hanji if they see anything out of the ordinary?”

A small smile twisted her lips. “Yes, but they’ll tell us more if Armin asks them.” Her phone was already in her hand, so Levi didn’t have a chance to ask what she meant before she had it to her ear.

Not that she’d have told him.

He was growing more and more surprised, though, at her lack of overt antagonism, at least since they’d left the house that morning.

Admittedly, she wasn’t friendly, exactly, but she was treating him almost as neutrally as she had the few times they’d met before he’d stumbled into their house, and Eren’s bed. He was starting to think he’d misunderstood something in her reaction to him.

Trying to figure it out made his head hurt, so he deliberately walked away. Her voice faded to a murmur as he made his way to the far side of the clearing, where the hill jutted out and the slope beneath it fell away so steeply towards the water that it was almost a cliff.

A breeze coming in from the water blew back his hair, sweeping through the trees around him in dry, rustling waves. There was no trace of anything man made, not even an airplane or a power line.

He thought, idly, that this would make a good view from a front porch. Maybe he could come back here with Eren, once they figured out what had gone wrong the cameras.

It was actually that thought that led him to the tracks. He’d been looking for a spot where they’d be enough out of view of the camera that Eren wouldn’t feel inhibited, when he’d spotted the patch of darker earth down below.

Immediately, he slid down the hill, deliberately landing several meters away.

A small chunk of the bank had recently broken away, which would have meant nothing if it wasn’t clear to Levi that someone had cleared the ground nearby a little too well. Carefully pacing the edges of the smooth patch, Levi found what he was looking for.

He crouched down, pulling out his phone, and was taking careful photos when Mikasa slid down the slope behind him.

Kneeling beside him, she studied the distinct indent of a heel left behind in the soil. “Could one of your people have followed you?”

“It’s always a possibility.” He stood, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “I’ll ask around, see if anyone’s heard anything.”

“Alright.”

He eyed the top of her head, surprised enough at her neutrality that he found himself trying to provoke a reaction. “If you’re lucky, they’ll get rid of me and you won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“I wouldn’t shed any tears over you being gone.” She got back up to her feet, brushing dirt from her jeans. When she turned and met his eyes, he was surprised by the look on her face, though he couldn’t understand it. “But you’d hurt Eren just as badly if you died. So don’t.”

And leaving him staring after her, she headed back up the hill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Levi-centric chapter :)
> 
> Next one we'll be back with Eren AND Levi IN THE SAME PLACE which I'm kind of excited about.


	8. Frustration - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having fun getting back into this story, I hope you all are enjoying it too :)

Nothing much happened for the next week. At all. Eren wasn't sure how much longer he could take it. 

Bent double beneath the hood of the Jeep, Eren gave the ratchet a particularly vicious tug and then let out a yelp of pain when it slipped off the bolt and his knuckle slammed into something metal and unyielding –  hard. The clatter as the ratchet fell through the engine and bounced off the cement below added insult to the injury, the echoing sound scraping across his already stretched-thin nerves.

Eren stayed where he was, taking long, deep breaths he talked himself out of kicking something. He’d only add a bruised foot to his problems – the damn car wouldn’t care.  

When the phone tucked into the back pocket of his jeans vibrated, he didn’t bother checking the screen but simply lifted his arm, making an all-okay gesture in the direction of the closest camera – and the brother he knew would be watching. The vibrating stopped immediately.

The sound of quick footsteps on concrete made him glance over his shoulder. He almost rolled his eyes when he saw his sister’s concerned face, but managed to restrain himself. She wasn’t responsible for his foul mood.

At least, not _entirely_ responsible.

“What happened?”

“I’m fine, Mikasa. I just banged my hand a bit.” He waved the greasy hand through the air so she could see it was whole.

“You should be wearing gloves.” But she was already stepping forward, grabbing his hand and turning it over to study his scraped knuckles.

“They get in the way.” Eren forced himself to hold still for a few seconds before pulling away. “It’s fine.” Mostly to change the subject, he asked, “How’d you hear me anyway? I thought you were working with the horses today.”

She didn’t hesitate, but her eyes didn’t quite meet his before she turned her face away to study the engine. “I just thought I’d come see how it was going.”

“Uh-huh. So you only got here just now?”

“Of course.”

Eren stifled a sigh. He decided not to ask her how long exactly she’d been standing guard outside the garage, as the answer would probably only irritate him more. “It’s going fine.”

“Oh. Good.”

This time Eren didn’t bother to stop himself from rolling his eyes. “And?”

She blinked, finally turning to face him. “And what?

“Now that you know how it’s going, why are you still here?”

Her eyes widened, and she slammed her hands onto her hips. “ _Eren_. Don’t be rude.”

In spite of himself, Eren found himself grinning at her. “Then you shouldn’t lie about stupid shit.”

“I didn’t lie-”

“ _Mikasa._ ” He echoed her tone.

She blew out a breath, eying him. “Fine. I was watching over you, and I was trying to be subtle about it. Happy now?”

“No.” But his grin didn’t fade. “You don’t do subtle well.”

She made a face at him, but he could see the rigidity that had held her shoulders stiff had eased, and the worry had disappeared from her eyes. “Do too.”

“Nope.” Eren rested his butt more comfortably against the front of the Jeep, crossing his arms over his chest as he settled in for a good fight. “Do not.”

“I do too. Better than you, anyway.”

That made Eren’s grin slip off of his face, but the chime of Mikasa’s phone, and the buzz of his cut off his response. They both glanced at the texts on their screens.  

_Behave, children_

Eren raised his eyes to the camera above his head just as Armin’s second text came in.

_This is pointless. You’re both as subtle as bricks. Don’t you have anything more important to argue about?_

Mikasa jammed her phone back in her pocket, and with a glare up at the camera, turned on her heel. “I better get back to the horses. Don’t go near the forest side of the garage, Eren.”

“I’m not stupid.”

She shot a grin over her shoulder, managing to get the last word. “Could have fooled me. Put some gloves on.”

Eren’s phone buzzed.

_Gloves would be a good idea_

Muttering under his breath, Eren dropped to his knees to fish the ratchet out from underneath the engine, and then went back to work. Without any damn gloves.

 

\--

 

Levi pulled up in front of the house just as the sun started falling from its midday peak in the sky. He sat for a long minute, scowling at nothing.

He was early, but he’d had to get home and make sure Eren was alright with his own eyes.

Letting his head fall forward, Levi stretched his neck, trying to loosen the tension in his neck. He’d made Erwin show him the records from Eren’s kidnapping, and they’d all but broken his self-control.  

The raging emotion that had rocked through his body had shaken him, almost more than the records themselves. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen worse. Hell, he’d _done_ worse. At least Eren had still been alive at the end of it all.

Levi hadn’t had a problem reading the dry-as-dust descriptions of the hole the kid had been found in, of the work that had been done to find him, or the legal deposition made by Annie when she’d turned her family in. Even reading the hospital records hadn’t messed with Levi’s usual objectivity.

It had been the photos that had wrecked him.

Letting out a long breath, Levi opened the door and stepped out. He stood for a second, until he heard a series of metallic clangs from the direction of the garage, followed by a loud curse. With a small smile, he turned to follow the sound.  

 

\--

 

Eren was flat on the ground, arm stretched out beneath the car as he strained to reach the wrench he’d just dropped -  again. With a muttered curse, he told himself it wouldn’t _really_ kill his pride to finally follow Armin’s suggestion and put a tarp down beneath the car to catch any stray tools. He’d do it this time, too. Just as soon as he got this one back. His fingers had just brushed over metal when he heard a faint whistle from behind him.

He started to jump up, forgetting where he was, and banged the top of his head against the front grill of the Jeep. Rubbing his new bruise, he carefully turned to face whoever had made the sound, and felt his irritation instantly melt away.

Levi stood with a shoulder braced against the edge of the wide doorway, eyes resting appreciatively on Eren’s wiggling ass.  

“Need any help?”

Carefully sliding out from beneath the car and sitting up, Eren shook his head. “I’m good. You’re early.”

Something passed across Levi’s face, too fast for Eren to be sure he’d really seen anything. “I got ahead of myself.” He stepped forward, stretching out a hand to help Eren to his feet, but snatched it away when he got a good look at the state Eren was in.

“How in hell did you get that dirty?”

Stretching his arms in front of him, Eren realized for the first time that he was completely covered in black grease. His nails were so dirty he wasn’t sure he’d be able to ever get them clean again. He sighed – he hadn’t been anywhere near this bad when Mikasa had nagged at him earlier. “I should have worn the gloves.”

Levi shook his head. “Gloves wouldn’t have been enough. You look like you’ve been rolling in the engine.” He grabbed a clean rag from the bucket beside the door and crouched down to scrub at Eren’s face.

Eren couldn’t help but grin. He was just so happy to have Levi there, even if he was scowling and the rag felt as if it was rubbing away Eren’s skin along with the dirt.    

Levi’s eyebrow arched up. “What are you smiling about?”

Shaking his head, Eren’s grin widened. “Nothing in particular.”

Levi studied Eren for a moment, and then deliberately wrapped the rag around his hand before bracing it on Eren’s shoulder, and leaning in until he could press his lips against Eren’s.

Eren’s mouth opened easily beneath Levi’s. The kiss deepened, heating quickly, but when Eren’s arms came up to wrap around Levi’s neck Levi pulled away immediately.

“I’m not letting your hands anywhere near me, Eren. You need a bath.”

“Oh, yeah.” Eren’s breathing was not quite steady as he stared at Levi’s lips, gratified to see Levi didn’t seem unaffected either. He tucked his hands firmly behind his back. “Hands off. Got it.”

Levi’s eyes widened, and then his lids came down as his lips slowly curved. “As long as you understand.” And seemingly uncaring of the grease that stained Eren’s entire front, he shifted forward to straddle Eren’s lap. His mouth came back down over Eren’s as he wrapped his arms around Eren’s neck, settling against him.

For a long minute, all Eren could think of was the heat of Levi’s mouth, the feel of him brushing against his front, and the aching need to lift his arms and pull Levi in even more closely. When he finally remembered why he couldn’t, he pulled away just enough to form words against Levi’s mouth, “You’re getting dirty.”   

“I don’t care.” One arm pulled loose from Eren’s neck and slipped down between their bodies. When it found the hard shape pressing against his jeans, Levi’s fingers traced with devastating accuracy along its length, and then gripped him firmly through the layers of clothing.

Eren moaned against Levi’s mouth as his hands dug into his own forearms, nails biting into skin.

He didn’t hear the sound of someone calling Levi’s name, but Levi did.

“I’m going to fucking murder her.”

Eren hips bucked up, and he would have cried out when he felt Levi pull his hand away if Levi hadn’t smothered the sound with his mouth.

“I’m sorry, kid.” With another quick kiss, Levi stood, pulling Eren to his feet. His eyes were both frustrated and sympathetic when they met Eren’s bewildered ones.  “I don’t think you want Hanji to see you like this.”

Eren blinked. “Hanji?”

“Riri, stop hiding. I wanna show you something.”

Head whipping around, Eren almost gasped as he finally registered his foster mother’s voice. He and Levi were slightly hidden from the house, and Hanji, by the thin strip of wall Levi had been leaning against, but Eren could hear footsteps coming towards them now.

Levi pushed him back further into the garage. “I’ll kill her, and then we can carry on where we left off.”

Not quite able to think, Eren just shook his head at Levi.

“I’m kidding. Mostly.” The last word was muttered. “Go calm down. I’ll take her back to the house.”

Stepping away, he was already speaking to Hanji as he disappeared from Eren’s line of view.

“What the hell do you want, Hanji?”

“Hey Levi, you’re back early. You _have_ to see this video. Erwin sent it to me- Why are you glaring at me like that?”

“Hanji, there are times I really hate being your friend.”

“Huh? What’d I do- Oh.” Eren heard the sudden understanding in her voice and closed his eyes. He wanted to sink through the concrete floor. “Oops. Sorry, Levi, I didn’t think. I’ll leave you two to it, shall I?”

“Too late.” Levi’s voice seemed to be getting further away. “Show me the damn thing”

Hanji was silent. “Sure, okay. Hey, Levi, how’d you get so dirty?”

“Fuck off, Hanji.”  

They were too far now for Eren to hear her response. The strength went out of his body as he slumped against the side of the car, embarrassment growing as he remembered the damn cameras that were probably still watching him. Armin wouldn’t let a little thing like seeing his brother almost have sex keep him from making sure Eren was safe, after all.

As he pulled himself together, he almost wished someone would attack, right then. At least then he’d have a reason to legitimately scream. And maybe it would delay the moment he’d have to meet Hanji’s, or Armin’s eyes.

Blowing out a breath, and glancing down to make sure his jeans really were still fastened, Eren turned back to the Jeep. He was going to get the thing running if it killed him, and then he was going to go somewhere with Levi where no-one could interrupt them.

And if anyone tried, he was going to kill them. Or at least cause serious injury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, so I'm gonna go ahead and mention that none of this is proofread by anyone but me, so all mistakes are mine. Also one of these days I'll actually learn the grammar rules I'm supposed to be using, and then I'll be able to write quickly AND correctly, but for now I'm just gonna focus on getting the story complete :)
> 
> Hopefully that works out ok on the reading end of things too!


	9. Frustration - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the comments and messages :) I know the SNK fandom has quieted down a bit, so you guys that are still around and actively cheering fanfic and art are the BEST EVER and my total faves and the only reason I'm still writing this (apart from the fact that I can't not but that's beside the point)

Eren stepped into the house just in time to see Levi coming down the stairs, wearing fresh, clean clothes, his hair damp. He seemed distracted, with deep grooves between his brows that told Eren he was thinking about something he didn’t like.

Pulling the door shut behind him with a decided thunk, Eren waited until he was sure Levi was looking in his direction before shaking his head and sighing deeply. “If I’d been ten minutes faster we could have showered together.”

Instantly, Levi’s frown disappeared, replaced by easy amusement as his eyes scanned Eren’s very grimy self. “It’s not too late. You might need some help getting rid of all that grease.”

Eren glanced down. He’d been trying to distract Levi from whatever had produced that serious expression, but the man did have a point. He didn’t think his clothes would ever be the same again, and when he tugged at the hem of his sweater he wasn’t surprised to see wide black smears on the band of skin he could see above his jeans. “I think I do, actually. I don’t know if I _can_ get rid of it all.”

He looked up to find Levi’s lips curving, a sudden new warmth in his eyes as they lifted to meet his. “Oh, I think we can manage. It’ll just takes some attention to detail.”

“Attention to detail?” For some reason, Eren couldn’t pull his eyes from Levi’s long enough to figure out what Levi was talking about.

“And dedication.”

“Dedication.” Eren’s heart started beating a little faster in his chest. When he realized he was still holding up his sweater, he tugged it down to cover his stomach again.  

“I imagine I’ll have to go over every inch of you.”

“Um.” Eren swallowed, and then for the life of him couldn’t work out what to say next.

Levi tilted his head, his smile slowly spreading as he saw the heat Eren couldn’t keep from staining his cheeks. “Yes?”

“Ok.”

And Levi laughed.

It was a soft, short sound, over almost as soon as it started, but it still made the breath stick in Eren’s chest. He forced himself to breathe again as he tried to record every instant of it in his mind.

Levi didn’t laugh often, and lately every time he did Eren found himself taking the moment and pressing it deeply into his memory, almost like his mother had once pressed the flowers he’d given her between the pages of her books.

Then Levi smiled, holding out a hand to Eren. “Then I’m at your disposal.”

Eren took a step, then another. “I’m pretty dirty. It’ll probably take hours.”

“Well then. We should get started right away.” Levi had come to a stop on the stairs when he’d first seen Eren, now he rested a hip against the railing, clearly, despite his words, willing to wait as long as it took for Eren to come to him.

Why that seemed to only increase the heat in Eren’s stomach he couldn’t have explained, but it did. He had taken another two steps before he heard the sound of footsteps quickly coming up the stairs from the basement.

“Oh, good. Eren, before you clean up, can you help me with the van? Hanji saw a Youtube video of some jerk hoarding a bunch of badly treated reptiles.” He was looking at a notebook in his hand, so still hadn’t caught the expression on Eren’s face. “I think we have everything we need from the last time, so as soon as she has the local police on board she’ll be heading out to pick them all up.” He finally looked up, saw Eren's expression, and then, blinking, turned his head to meet Levi’s glare.

He sighed. “Well, hell. Sorry. But you really need to work on your timing.”

“ _We_ need to work on our timing?” Eren almost spluttered.

Armin just grinned at him. “Uh-huh.” He was at Eren’s side now, and started to take Eren’s arm before seeing how dirty it was. He pulled back, and then gestured for Eren to go in front of him. “It shouldn’t take too long-”  

The ring of Levi’s phone interrupted him. He and Eren looked up in time to see Levi scowl down at his phone, silence it, and then stuff it back in his pocket.

Eren edged another step towards the stairs, not yet ready to give up. “No way. We’re gonna- _I’m_ going to go shower first. I can always clean up again after.”

“There’s no time for that-”

They all heard Hanji coming up from the basement, already calling for Levi. She was holding out her phone.

Levi sighed, briefly closing his eyes, and started the rest of the way down the stairs.

“Levi, Erwin’s trying to reach you. He can’t find the Baxter file.”

“I filed it. Under Baxter.”

“He says he looked there.”

“Tell him to look again.”

“He says he already looked again.”

With a mutter, he took the phone from her.

“Get someone else on the phone.” He rubbed at his forehead. “I don’t give a fuck. Anyone not you. No, not Connie. Where the hell is Marco? No I’m _not_ coming back out there.”

Eren’s shoulders slumped. He gave up all hope of shower sex, and turned to head out to help set up the van.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a shorter chapter this week, as I have to write a thing for another fandom tomorrow, but the next chapter is half written already so since I'm over-optimistic and know better than to say stuff like this that means that maybe next weekend I'll be able to post TWO chapters :)


	10. Frustration - Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks, and I find that affects my writing more than anything except reading other fanfiction, so again I think my style might be changing??? Not sure. But hopefully this chapter works, as it is. 
> 
> I also had a migraine for most of this weekend, so am very proud for getting this chapter out, and am bragging about it here :)

It took forever to get the van ready. By the time they’d finished and Eren had managed to finally get his shower – alone –  he was tired enough that all he wanted to do was curl up on the bed and sleep. They’d managed to eat in shifts while they worked, which suited Eren just fine as he wasn’t sure he could have stayed awake long enough to sit through dinner, at least not without falling asleep in his plate.

It had been a long day, but that wasn’t the whole reason for his exhaustion. He’d been waking up just before dawn each day for the past week, wide awake, unable to go back to sleep. It wasn’t Mikasa’s fault either – she’d left them alone after that first morning. He’d also been having trouble with the nightmares again, though he’d never tell his family, or Levi. They weren’t _loud_ enough that Levi would have noticed on his own, Eren was certain of that, but they were constant. 

He understood why, of course. The tension over a possible attack that might never even happen was first on his list, and as he left his room after his long shower, still toweling his wet hair, Eren decided he had to do something about it.

His thoughts were muddled enough from tiredness that he all but forgot his decision when he spotted the others, as he came down the stairs. Hanji sat in one of the large recliners near the lit fireplace, flipping through a dog-eared spiral notebook with Mikasa, who sat perched on the wide arm of her chair. Armin was in the opposite chair, immersed in some giant textbook he held on his lap.

Levi was reading too, though Eren couldn’t see what. He sat on the sofa, one arm draped over the back, one leg lightly crossed over the other, looking for all the world as though he’d just stepped out of some old black and white film. His collar was open at his neck, his hair was a little ruffled where he’d pushed it back from his face, and as Eren stared at his profile he found himself blushing for no real reason at all.

Eren’s feet were bare and moved almost soundlessly over the stone floor, but somehow Levi heard him coming. He glanced back over his shoulder, and as Eren came around the end of the couch he found himself grinning at the way Levi inspected him from head to toe.

“I’m as clean as I could get.”

One of Levi’s eyebrows arched up. “And how much cleaner would you be if I’d been there to supervise?”

Mikasa snorted, not bothering to look up. “Please. If you’d been there you’d both be so _occupied,_ he might as well not bother trying. He’d probably still be covered in grease in the morning.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I’m very good at what I do.” Levi smiled up at Eren as he came to stand in front of him. Eren eyed him warily, catching the look in his eyes, and braced himself for whatever Levi was getting ready to provoke Mikasa with next. “I’m especially good when it comes to anything to do with cleaning, or having sex with your bro-”

“ _Levi_.” Eren cut him off, and deliberately ignored both his sister’s outraged muttering and the way Levi looked very pleased with himself as he slung his towel over his shoulder and quickly held out both hands for Levi to examine. “See? All clean.”

Clearly still amused, Levi took one of Eren’s hands, pulling him down to sit beside him. “Good job.”

Tucking himself beneath Levi’s arm, Eren stretched out his legs along the couch, and as Levi’s arm curled around him he settled back into his warmth, sighing happily.

With one last glare at Levi, Mikasa turned back to the notebook Hanji held. After a minute, Eren realized they were going over the treatment schedule for one of the horses. The vet had given the all clear, and they’d be seeing if they could get her a little more used to humans again before introducing her to the other animals.

Every now and then Armin would make a suggestion, and even Levi looked up from his book to answer questions Hanji put to him. Their soft voices, combined with the heat from the fire and the warmth of Levi behind and around him had Eren drifting closer and closer to sleep.

He caught a comment his brother made, something about being out of town, and it lingered in his mind for a long minute before he woke up enough to realize why it had struck him as odd. He straightened, forcing away the sleepiness as he looked at his brother.

“You’re going too?”

Armin blinked at Eren. “Didn’t you know?”

Eren shook his head. He’d known Hanji would be leaving very early in the morning, of course, but he hadn’t heard anyone would be going with her.

“The local police aren’t cooperating yet, so Armin is coming to intimidate them.” Hanji smiled fondly at her foster son. “One good hard talking to and they should fall into line.”

“Hanji, stop saying that.” Exasperated, Armin shook his head. “I’m not going to intimidate them. I’m just going to explain the ramifications of the situation and suggest that it would be better for them in the long run if they cooperated with us.” His words sounded as though he’d already repeated himself several times.

“Exactly. You’re going to intimidate them into being helpful.” 

As Armin sighed long and hard, clearly giving up the fight, Eren sat up even straighter. He felt Levi’s arm settle around his lower back, reassuringly firm. “But if you’re leaving, does that mean we’re not so worried about someone trying to break in?” He flicked his eyes from face to face, trying to read their expressions.

Hanji was the first to answer. “We’re still on high alert, Eren. You don’t have to worry-”

Eren rapidly shook his head, even as he felt Levi’s hand on his hip squeeze lightly. He flicked a smile back at him. “I’m not worried at all. I was actually going to ask if we could step it back a little.”

“We can’t take risks-” Armin started, before Eren cut him off.

“I’m not talking about being stupid. But this last week has been hell. For me at least. And you can’t say you guys aren’t getting behind on everything you’ve had to put on hold to watch over me.”

He caught the look Mikasa and Armin exchanged, and narrowed his eyes at them. “I’m not a kid. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Armin’s eyes were direct as he met Eren’s gaze. “You’re right, Eren. But we don’t know anything about whoever this is.”

“We don’t even know if there _is_ anyone, do we?”

“No, but that only makes it that much harder to protect you.”

Eren exhaled in frustration. “But they might – if they even exist at all – they might not even be after _me_. They could be after any of you. Or you.” He flicked a glance back at Levi, and had to look away quickly at the deadly seriousness on Levi’s face. There might have been anger, too, though Eren wasn’t sure at what – or who. He didn’t think he could argue with Levi and his family at the same time, but the arm around his waist hadn’t moved away, and the hand at his hip stayed firmly in place. So he decided to deal with his family first. He _knew_ they disagreed with him. “They might even be after something in the house. Or maybe they’re just some stupid photographer who doesn’t mind trespassing for a good photo, and the cameras thing really was a coincidence.”

He shouldn’t have added the last possibility. He knew it even as the words came pouring out. His siblings had been looking uncertain right up until that point, but as he’d finished speaking he’d seen Armin look away, and Mikasa’s mouth firm into a solid line.

“I’m not saying I want to pretend it’s nothing to worry about. I’m not that naive. I’m just saying we can’t keep this up forever.” He found himself losing some of the burst of energy that had kept him going, and sagged back against Levi’s arm as he tried one more time. “We can’t live in each other’s pockets every time something happens. Or every time something _might_ happen.”

Neither of his siblings would meet his eyes now. It was Hanji who stood, attracting everyone’s attention. She pressed the notepad into Mikasa’s hands, patting her on the head. “You’re right, Eren. So are they. We’ll all talk about it when Armin and I get back. Alright?”

She waited until all three of her foster children nodded, and then smiled brightly at Eren. “And if you get hurt while we’re away because you’re being stupid, I will personally shave every hair on your body, alright?”

Eren blinked up at her, and then grinned weakly. “Yes, sir.”

She nodded in satisfaction. “Armin, go to bed soon. We’ll be up again in a few hours.”

“Alright, Hanji.”

No-one spoke until Hanji’s door closed behind her, and then all three of the siblings relaxed, Mikasa sliding almost bonelessly into the chair Hanji had left behind.

Eren risked a look back at Levi. He was relieved to see the dark expression was gone, replaced by something quietly thoughtful as his eyes met Eren’s. Eren turned his face away and nestled back against him.  

The quiet thump as Armin shut the book he’d been holding made all eyes swing towards him. They watched as he very, very carefully placed the book in the exact center of the small table beside him. When he looked up and found he had everyone’s attention, his shoulders slumped for a second, before straightening again.

“I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you, Eren.” His voice was firm, but he stared down at his hands.

Armin wasn’t often shy, or reserved. Not anymore – at least not with his family. Eren felt panic stiffening his back, and tried to pull away from Levi. Levi wouldn’t let go, and wrapped his arm even more firmly around him to hold him in place.

When no one said anything, Armin continued in a rush. “I’ve been looking at moving out.”

“What?” Only Levi’s arm kept Eren from bolting upright. He flicked a glance at Mikasa and saw she didn’t look at all surprised. She’d turned her face away as she sat slumped in the chair, and was scowling at the fire.

Armin bit his lip. “It’s not a big thing. Really. I was just looking at some options before this whole scare came up. Ever since-” His eyes flicked to Levi, and then away. “Well, I’ve been thinking about buying a house in town.”

“If you hate living with us that much, we should be the ones to move-”

Armin was already shaking his head. “No, no. It really isn’t that. I promise.” He took a deep breath, finally meeting Eren’s eyes. “It’s just… you have Levi. Someday we might all have our own partners. Mikasa was looking at moving at some point too.”

“You were?” Shock made Eren feel cold, despite the heat of the fire. He glanced back at Mikasa, willing her to say something.   

Finally, she sighed, and turned away from the fire. “It’s got nothing to do with the asshole.”

Oddly enough, the glare she aimed at Levi made Eren relax, just a little. “Then why?”

“It’s time to look at it, that’s all.” She sounded grumpy, as if she resented being forced to contribute to the conversation.

“It’s just-” Armin was clearly searching for the right words. “You finding Levi made me think this…living situation won’t work forever.”

“But why now?”

Armin shook his head. “Not now. But we’ve lived together like this for so long, just us, when Levi came I realized that I’d forgotten things might change, someday.” He smiled gently at Eren. “It’s not a big deal. I’m not moving right away, and I wouldn’t be far away. I just thought I’d prepare for the someday.”

Eren studied his brother, his eyebrows knit as he tried to think through the exhaustion that dulled his thoughts. “Armin, when you said you were looking at a house in town, does that mean there’s been some progress with-”

“Nope.” Armin’s smile was a little strained as he raised a hand to stop Eren. “Absolutely nothing to do with…that man. At all.”

“Well, I know you see other people, but you still like him, don’t you? And if you were in town-”

Armin rubbed his forehead. “It was just a childish crush. I don’t even think about it anymore.”

Mikasa was the one who snorted at that. “Childish crush my ass. We’ve all heard you when you’re drunk, there is nothing innocent about what you want to do with-”

“Well!” Armin stood quickly. “I better head to bed now before Hanji comes back to find out why I haven’t.”  He was halfway to his room before he stopped and glanced back at the others. “We will _never_ mention this again, alright?”

 

\--

 

Eren sat on the edge of the bed he had come to think of as _theirs_ , in the room he had also come to think of as theirs, arms wrapped around his legs as he watched Levi getting ready for bed.

“Do you think Armin is thinking of leaving because of me?”

Levi pulled on a pair of sweatpants before glancing over, meeting Eren’s gaze. “You?

Eren’s mouth twisted as he ducked his face down to his knees. “Well, us.”

“You already know the answer to that question. It’s not us, and it is us.”

Eren sighed. “Yeah. I guess I always figured he’d basically live here until he managed to actually catch Erwin, before-”

The sound Levi made was somewhere between a cough and a gag. “Stop right there.”

“What?”

“Erwin?”

“Uh-huh”

“Isn’t Erwin taken?”

“I’m not sure.” Eren angled his head, thinking. “You’d know that better than me. To be honest, I don’t think Armin would care even if he was. He’s wanted him since high school, he’d probably be happy to take Erwin and whoever else together.”

“Oh no.” Levi looked genuinely distressed as he dropped to the bed beside Eren, his hands scrubbing at his face. “Stop. Now I have images.”

Eren couldn’t hold back his grin at the pained expression on Levi’s face. Letting go of his legs he crawled over to push Levi back down to the bed. Straddling him, he put his hands on either side of Levi’s head so he could watch his face as he continued. “You should hear some of the things he wants to do with him. That’s mainly all he talks about when he gets drunk. I actually learned a lot listening to him.”

With a quick movement, Levi flipped them over until he could glare down into Eren’s laughing face. “I guess I’ll have to just shut you up myself.” And his mouth closed over Eren’s before Eren could get another word out.

By the time he raised his head, Eren was thoroughly distracted. His arms had risen to twist around Levi’s neck, but the moment was spoiled by the giant, jaw-cracking yawn he couldn’t hold back.  

Leaning down, Levi kissed him again, lightly this time, before pulling away. “Sleep, Eren. We can discuss this in the morning.” He paused, and then added, “Or not.”

Eren wanted to pout. They were alone in their room. No one was likely to interrupt them, there were no cameras. They were in in an _actual bed_. And just like every other night this week, Levi was clearly not planning on doing anything with him.

If Eren could have worked up the energy, he would have been mad. As it was it was all he could do to keep his eyes open.

He was barely awake enough to realize what Levi was doing when he helped Eren get under the covers, in the correct position to have his head on the pillows, and he was already fast asleep by the time Levi turned out the light and climbed over him, wrapping his arms around Eren as he settled into the bed behind him.


	11. Risk - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to work on some of my other unfinished fics during the week and this one on weekends, but it's hard as I don't usually get home from class until late. And work sucks especially hard if I don't sleep, so we're at an impasse at the moment. 
> 
> This is also my excuse for taking ages to answer comments (and being more absent than usual on Tumblr), but please know every comment and message is so very important to me and thank you :)

In the end, no one attacked Eren while Hanji was away. They waited until two days after she came back.

It started when Eren finally got the Jeep working. Once he had the engine running smoothly there wasn’t really much more left to do except drive it around and around in circles in front of the house, which was almost as boring as doing nothing.

Mikasa was busy working with the new specialist they’d called in to help with the horse, as the animal still wasn’t settling in well. Levi had gone to the military base with Hanji to meet some visiting brass who hadn’t been willing to take his first, second, or third no for an answer. Eren didn’t know what Armin was working on, but he’d been distracted at breakfast and had disappeared down the stairs to the basement as soon as he politely could.  

So everyone was busy, Eren was bored, and all it took was remembering that Levi had mentioned they were out of eggs that morning for him to decide what he was going to do about it.

He wasn’t stupid, or irresponsible. He _wanted_ to just get in the car and take off, but he made himself go downstairs to see Armin first. Armin didn’t like the idea of Eren going on his own, but he clearly had his hands full with the new arrivals. Mikasa was busy too, when Armin insisted on walking Eren out to the paddock to check in with her.

When they both demanded he call Hanji before going anywhere, Eren nearly lost the battle he’d been fighting with his temper. He reminded them both – as calmly as he could - that he was a fully grown adult, capable of making his own decisions, and well able to take care of himself.

He was yelling at them both by the end of it.

Luckily the skittish horse they’d been working with seemed to actually like Eren’s raised voice as – to the utter, openmouthed shock of both Mikasa and the visiting trainer, she cut Eren off mid-sentence when she stretched her neck over the fence to nuzzle amiably at his hair.

It broke the tension enough that Eren was able to calm down and decide the others probably did have a point. So he pulled out his phone and called Hanji.

Neither she or Levi picked up, but Levi texted back – a single word.

_Emergency?_

Eren stared the other two down until they agreed it wasn’t. He texted back that he’d talk to Levi later, hopped into the car with only a few more instructions from his siblings, and finally drove away from the ranch.  

It was the first time he’d left the property in over two weeks. As he sped along the road bordering the lake, he found he was grinning, almost laughing out of sheer relief.

He was in his own car, driving himself to the grocery store. _Unsupervised_.

He was freezing, of course, and knew Mikasa had been right when she’d said it was getting too late in the year to drive an open vehicle. The windshield only blocked a small portion of the late autumn wind, and the bare bars that formed the roof of the Jeep did nothing at all. He wished he’d brought his coat, but knew if he went back someone was bound to come up with some reason he should wait until one of them could go with him.

He wouldn’t have minded Levi’s company. But he was glad to have this very first drive on his own. He felt so damn _free_.

The back end of the Jeep slid sideways in the dirt as Eren took a curve a little too fast, snapping him out of his thoughts. He slowed down to a normal speed, biting his lip a little when he realized he’d been doing almost double the limit.

He wanted _nothing_ to go wrong today. This solo drive to handle an errand of no real importance was going to happen again.

This was going to become the new normal. He would make certain of it.

The knife holster strapped around his ankle dug in a little as he shifted his foot between pedals. The slight discomfort was reassuring, as was the weight of the shoulder harness holding two more knives against either side of his ribcage –  it had been a gift from Levi on his last birthday. He wasn’t as comforted by the pistol tucked into the glove compartment, but then he really wasn’t the best shot. Armin had insisted he bring it along in any case, and he hadn’t argued.

As Eren turned onto the main road heading into the city, his teeth started chattering, and he absently wondered if the grocery store sold winter coats.

He didn’t realize his hands were numb until he had trouble turning the wheel when he pulled into a slot in the grocery store’s parking lot, but he managed to park and control his fingers enough to text Mikasa and Armin that he’d made it safely.

The warmth of the mid afternoon sun hit him as soon as he hopped out of the car. It felt so good against his frozen skin that he let himself stand where he was for a long minute, face turned up, eyes closed as his shivering eased.

“What the hell are _you_ doing here?”

For a split second, every nerve in Eren’s body seemed to go on red alert. He couldn’t prevent the way he jerked back towards the Jeep, or the way his hand instinctively reached for the knife beneath his left arm, but Eren did his damned best to stop his panicked reaction there. He let his knife hand fall to his side, deliberately relaxing his stance as he turned to look at the owner of the familiar – and irritating – voice.

“I’m glad to see you too, asshole.” And oddly enough, he was. He found himself grinning at the man standing in front of him, arms wrapped around two brown grocery bags. Jean wasn’t exactly scowling either. If Eren hadn’t known better, he’d have thought they were both happy to see each other.

“You’ve been holed up at the ranch so long, I thought you’d finally died.”

“Nope. Sorry. Still alive.” Eren eyed Jean for a long second, and then deliberately flicked his eyes over to the gaudily painted truck he’d parked beside. He must have been completely distracted when he’d pulled up not to have noticed it. The thing was now pea green with neon orange highlights. The hubcaps were bright blue. It was tacky, even by Jean's usual standards. “Though this monstrosity almost almost makes me wish I wasn't. I think it might actually kill me if I have to keep looking at it.”

“What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your truck, Jean." 

"Are you insulting my truck?” Jean was definitely scowling now. He glared at Eren.

“Is that what it sounded like?”

“Yeah.”  Jean's threatening stance was somewhat marred by the leek sticking up out of one of the bags in his arms. It kept poking him in the face.  

“Oh, no.” Eren shook his head. “I wasn’t insulting your truck.”

Jean started to relax, until Eren continued.

“I was insulting _you_. You have terrible taste. Your truck is just the victim here.” As Jean’s mouth dropped open, Eren turned his head to grin at the second man coming around the front of the truck. “Hi, Marco.”

“Eren.” Marco glanced sideways at Jean, taking in his friend’s expression. With a sigh, he tugged the truck keys out of Jean’s pocket. “I see you two are as friendly as ever.”

“Uh-huh.” Satisfaction had wiped away the last sticky remnants of the panic Eren had felt when Jean had startled him. He beamed at Marco, happy with Jean’s speechless state. It was turning out to be a very good day. “I heard you were working with Erwin now. Welcome back.”

“Thanks.” Marco shot a smile over his shoulder as he opened the passenger door of the truck and set the single bag he carried on the floor inside. When he quietly took Jean’s bags from him and placed them inside the truck, Eren couldn’t help but notice Marco seemed to have acquired a new air of self-assurance since they'd last talked.

Something about his demeanor now reminded Eren a little of Erwin, or maybe Mike. Marco had shocked almost everyone when he’d dropped out of school and enlisted on his seventeenth birthday. His closest friends hadn’t been surprised, but most had wondered if Marco’s shiny, almost raw idealism was going to cause him trouble as he finally made his way into the world he’d dreamed about entering since he’d been a small child.

Eren had worried when he’d heard Marco had resigned, and come back to work in the local Sheriff’s Office. He’d heard Marco was doing just fine but seeing him now told Eren his concern had been unnecessary.

“Levi speaks highly of you.” Which was true enough, though Eren wasn’t going to tell Marco Levi's actual words. Levi’s compliments sometimes got lost in translation. Or maybe they needed translation.

Marco beamed at him. “That’s good to hear. Everyone likes having Levi there too. The new computer system he’s putting in should make things a lot easier.”

Eren blinked. “What computer system?”

Marco looked surprised. He opened his mouth to answer, but said nothing, and then shut it again. His hesitation gave Jean a chance to break back into the conversation.

“Hey, jerkface, what gives you the right to say _anything_ about my taste?”  

Eren eyed Jean’s flushed face for a long second. “Well, someone has to, or you’ll never get any better. Right Marco?”

“Don’t pull me into this.” But Marco laughed, lightly patting Jean’s shoulder. “Honestly, Jean. Even your mom thinks this paint job might have gone too far.”

“I like it like this. It’s distinctive.”

“That it is.” Marco agreed easily.

“She’ll come around, eventually.”

“I’m sure she will.” Marco must have noticed the slow grin on Eren’s face, because he continued quickly before Eren could say anything else. “Connie’s bachelor party is the week after next. Do you think you can make it?”

It took Eren a second to make the switch in topics. “Connie’s having a bachelor party? Without Sasha?”

Marco laughed. “No, we’re holding it together with Sasha’s bachelorette.”

Eren’s eyes widened. “That’ll be…something else.”

“Uh-huh. I’m best man.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s what I told him.” Even Jean was smiling a little now as he looked at Marco. “Sasha wanted to be Connie’s best man, but we told her she couldn’t be both the bride and the best man too.”

“God.” Eren felt almost overwhelmed with a fresh flood of old memories. “She sounds like she hasn’t changed at all.”

“She hasn’t, except she’s eating four times as much as usual.”

Eren was genuinely shocked. He shook his head at Jean. “That’s impossible.”

“She’s pregnant.” Marco explained, “They aren’t keeping it a secret. They couldn’t have even if they’d wanted to, what with how much she’s showing now, but Connie’s been telling anyone he could get to listen to him ever since they found out.”

“Sasha’s having a kid?”

“I know, right?” Jean sounded as shaken by the idea as Eren felt. “Marco thinks she’s having twins.”

Marco quickly spoke. “I don’t know, really. I just wondered because she’s been packing away so much food. Even Erwin said he’d have to give Connie a raise to cover it all.”   

Eren felt as if he’d only just realized how much he’d been missing of his friends’ lives. How much he’d missed his _friends_. “I’ll come. To the bachelor thing, I mean.”

“Really?”

Eren tried not to notice how surprised Marco looked. “Yeah. I think Armin and Mikasa will come too.” They’d have probably gone anyway, but he didn’t think there was a chance in hell they’d let him go alone. “Let one of us know when and where.”

“Alright.” Marco grinned at him. “I’ll definitely need all the support I can get.”

Eren waited until Jean and Marco had climbed into the truck before he turned to head into the store, but turned back when he heard Jean call his name.

Jean had an uncomfortable look on his face. He'd rolled down the window, and was leaning out towards Eren. “That Levi guy, he’s not after Mikasa, is he?”

Eren didn’t think he could have heard Jean correctly. “What?”

“I mean, I know Hanji’s having him stay because he’s her friend and all, but I mean-” Jean shrugged awkwardly. “I just wondered if he was also staying there because he and Mikasa were… a thing.”

Eren exchanged disbelieving looks with Marco. “No. They _really_ aren’t…a thing.”

“Oh, okay.” Jean pulled his head back into the truck. He seemed confused when he noticed the slightly pitying look Marco was now giving him.

“Hey, Jean.” Eren waited until he had Jean’s full attention again. “Levi’s not staying at the ranch because he and Mikasa are a thing.”

“You told me. I got it. I just wondered.”  

Eren shook his head. “No, I mean, it’s not Mikasa he's sleeping with.”

“It’s not?” Jean blinked at Eren.

Eren slowly shook his head again. He was finding it hard to suppress his grin.

“Then who?”

Eren stepped towards the truck door, waiting as Jean leaned down towards him until their faces were only a little more than a foot apart. “He’s fucking me.”

Jean’s shocked expression was everything Eren could have wanted. With one last beatific smile at Marco, Eren turned and headed into the store.

 

\---

 

As promised, he texted his siblings when he was done shopping. He hadn’t bought much – they hadn’t really needed anything but eggs. He’d spent most of his time picking out a coat, scarf, gloves, and several fleece blankets to keep in the car.  

He was pleasantly warm and cozy as he pulled the Jeep out of the parking lot, and he probably wouldn’t have noticed the silver car that followed him onto the street if it hadn’t been for the fact that it looked brand new. Wondering idly if someone he knew had just bought themselves a car, he tried to see through the tinted windshield in his rearview mirror, but could pick out nothing but vague outlines.

The car turned at the next intersection, and Eren forgot about it. He knew Levi wouldn’t be at the Sheriff’s Office, but he drove past there anyway – mostly because he was having too much fun to want to go home just yet.

He was nearly at the city limits when the shiny silver call pulled out of a side road and slipped into place behind him again.

Only a little alarmed, Eren tried again to make out any details through the tinted glass. He was just as unsuccessful. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he carried on towards home, considering what to do.

With a sigh, he pulled off his gloves, grabbed his phone, and called Armin.

“Eren? What’s wrong?”

“There _may_ be a car tailing me, but I could be overreacting.”

“What?”

“I think someone may be tailing me.”

“Eren, the wind is too strong, I can’t hear you.”

With a muttered curse, Eren leaned further into the protection of the windshield, tucking his hand around the phone as he spoke loudly into the receiver. “I’m being followed.”

“What?” This time, Armin sounded alarmed, and Eren decided he’d probably heard him.

“A car followed me out of the grocery store, and then just popped up again. It might be nothing.”

Even as he spoke, Eren saw a truck that had been sitting on the side of the road up ahead of him pull out into his lane. There were only two lanes, one in each direction, and Eren started to press on the brakes. Then he realized the truck wasn’t just pulling out onto the road – it had stopped lengthwise across it, deliberately blocking both sides.

“Aw, fuck.” This trip wasn’t going to be uneventful, after all.

“Eren? What’s happening? Where are you?”

"Hang on." Eren dropped the phone onto his lap. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, jammed his foot down on the gas pedal, and swerved onto the thickly weeded, narrow verge between the road and the tree line. His Jeep cleared the front grill of the truck with barely an inch to spare, and Eren caught a glimpse of a thin, pale face with dark hair before he jerked the Jeep back onto the road and floored the gas pedal again.

He reached for the phone, miraculously still in his lap, and was just bringing it back up to his ear when he heard the loud crack of a gunshot from behind him.

They were shooting at him. The _assholes_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand it begins :)


	12. Risk - Part 2

Jerking the steering wheel to one side, Eren swerved through a narrow break in the trees he wouldn’t have seen if he hadn’t been desperately looking for any possibility of a getting off the main road. His back tires grabbed for traction, spinning briefly as they went from concrete to dirt, and then with a cloud of dust the Jeep shot forward down the side road.

He jammed his foot down on the gas pedal, risking one quick glance over his shoulder as he took the dirt road as fast as he dared. He’d known one sharp turn wouldn’t be enough to lose them, but couldn’t help swearing in frustration when he saw the silver car swerve into place behind him, the truck following an instant later.

Then the road ahead of him curved sharply and Eren had to turn his full attention back to keeping the Jeep from plowing into a tree.

He didn’t know where he was. Nowhere near the ranch, of course, and he’d still been a ways from Shinganshina lake when he turned off. From the flashes of gleaming sunlight through the trees he knew there was some form of water nearby, but that told him exactly nothing about where he was, or where this road went. 

He hoped like hell it wasn’t a dead end.

Another curve turned into a long straight, and Eren stepped on the gas, trying to gain as much distance as he could before the chasing cars had a clear shot at him again.

If he could just get far enough ahead he might even be able to lose them, or at least keep them at a distance until someone arrived from Trost. His own phone was now somewhere on the floor of the Jeep and as useless to him as the pistol safely tucked away in his glovebox, but Armin knew where he was. Eren had installed the damned tracking devices in the Jeep himself. Armin had definitely already called for help and Eren just needed to buy enough time for it to get to him.

He wondered if Levi had made it back home yet.   

Another loud crack had him ducking, even as he reached the next curve in the road and managed to put trees between him and the shooter.

What exactly did they want? Were they trying to kill him, after all? Or were they shooting at his car to disable it?

The thought made him so mad he very nearly stopped the Jeep right there. They really _were_ assholes. He wished he could destroy each and every one of them, preferably with his own fists.

Eren’s hands clenched on the wheel as the road quickly angled up, the trees thinning as one side of the road turned into a steep bank leading down to a decent sized lake. He had to slow down or risk going over the edge, and let out his breath in relief when he saw the car behind him slow too.

He caught a glimpse of someone leaning out of the passenger window of the car just as a bullet hit one of his back tires. His rear end fishtailed, the whole body of the Jeep twisting as Eren fought to keep from going over the edge.  

He almost made it.

The back passenger side slid over the lip of the road first, and the Jeep lurched with enough force that Eren had only enough time to rip off his belt and shove his door open before it started to tip over. He threw himself out and away.

He landed head first against a tree.  It took him a second before he could get to his feet, but hardly more than that before he was up and running. He didn’t bother to look behind him as he made his way deeper into the cover of the woods - there was a chance they hadn’t seen him escape and he planned to take every possible advantage he had.

The cliff must have not been as steep as he’d thought, because the Jeep seemed to be taking its time making its way down to the bottom. The tortured sound of metal crunching and bending was more than loud enough to mask any noise Eren made.

He heard the final loud wet crash as the thing reached the water, and slowed his footsteps to a walk.  

Maybe he’d hit his head harder than he thought, because he couldn’t seem to think. All he could do was feel, and the only thing he felt was anger. So much anger.

 _Damn_ them.  

When his feet finally stopped and he stood in one place, panting, his head finally clearing a little, he realized he couldn’t hear anything but empty forest. Slowly, he turned back around. He was deep enough into the woods that he didn’t think they wouldn’t find him unless they knew how to track.

In case they did, he pulled out his knives, holding one tightly gripped in each fist as he stood perfectly still, eyes fixed back the way he’d come.

It was only his training, firmly and persistently drilled into him by his family, that kept him from going back, confronting whoever had attacked him.

He wanted them to come after him. No-one would fault him if they came after him, now.

But after long minutes he heard the almost inaudible sound of an engine starting, and then another much louder one. They moved, changing direction, growing fainter, until he couldn’t hear them at all anymore.

Still, he waited.

In the long silence Eren had time to think, now that he could again. First he thought about eggs, probably all smashed and broken now. His phone. He’d liked that phone. It had photos on it. His new fleece blankets.

Then he thought about his car. He and Levi hadn’t even had sex in it yet.

He’d had plans for that back seat.

His head jerked up when he heard engines coming his way again. It seemed to take forever for the first of them to reach the road he’d just left, but then he heard more, and more. They didn’t seem to stop coming.

Eren wobbled where he stood, unsure of what to do.

When he heard someone calling his name he let out the breath he’d been holding and started back, first walking, then running. He didn’t stop until he broke through the edge of the trees.

It seemed as if people were everywhere, crawling over the narrow road, the bank down to the water, even through the trees. He saw Erwin, head and shoulders above everyone else, his simple brown Sheriff’s uniform somehow more imposing than all the gleaming patches and bright colors decorating the military uniforms of the men surrounding him.

There were so many people, so many voices. A whole kaleidoscope of uniforms. Everyone seemed occupied with their tasks, but as he stumbled forward they stopped, going silent, until it seemed as though they were all looking at him with something like shock on their faces. Eren wondered why.  

And then Levi was standing in front of him, barely a foot away, and Eren’s world finally stopped spinning. He started to smile, and then caught the grim expression on Levi’s face. Those pale eyes looked hard, black, furious.

It was the fury that worried Eren. That, and the fact that Levi still hadn’t said anything.

“I wasn’t stupid.”

Levi’s eyes widened at Eren’s words, surprise softening his expression.  

“I did everything I was supposed to do. This wasn’t my fault.”

Levi slowly shook his head, eyes still firmly locked on Eren’s. “No. This wasn’t your fault.”

Eren nodded, relieved to have that settled. “Ok. Good.”

He went to wipe a hand over his face, only then realizing he still gripped both of his knives in his fists. He thought about it for a second, then unclenched one fist, letting the knife fall to the ground, freeing his hand to brush back the hair that had fallen over his eye. When his fingers met something warm and wet he pulled his hand away, glancing down to find it was now covered in blood.

When Eren looked up, he realized everyone was watching him. Was this why they’d all looked so shocked to see him, coming out of the woods with his knives at the ready and covered in blood? How bad exactly did he look? He tucked his bloody hand behind his back. He looked past Levi’s shoulder, finding Hanji, her face almost as grim as Levi’s had been.

“I’m not hurt, Hanji.”

Her lips twisted. “Of course you’re not.”

Eren thought there might be tears in her eyes, and decided he wanted to go back and somehow do today all over again. He was just about to open his mouth and promise to never leave the house again when Levi broke in.

“You’re not hurt? What the hell do you call that blood all over you then?”

Eren stiffened at the anger in Levi’s voice. “It was all necessary, and better than it could have been. I’m not kidnapped, or dead, am I?” He turned and nodded towards the bank he’d nearly gone over, which was a mistake. Not only did he discover his entire right side was extremely sore, he also got his first glimpse of the Jeep.

The lake clearly wasn’t all that deep here. Only a foot or so of the car was actually under water, but the part sticking out was the bottom. It had landed upside down, wedged between rocks. Two of the wheels dangled at odd angles, and the whole frame looked oddly squashed.

Eren sighed. The car was a wreck. No doubt about it.

“Excuse me.” A young woman in military uniform stepped forward. “I’m a paramedic.” She explained when Eren just blinked at her. “I should take a look at your injuries.”

Eren nodded, and started to turn towards her when Levi reached out and set his hands on either side of Eren’s face. He had no time to think before Levi yanked his head down for a hard, bruising kiss.

Levi was scowling when he pulled away. Eren was beaming happily back at him. With a sound of disgust, Levi turned and walked towards Erwin.

Eren was still grinning when he turned to the paramedic. Since she was grinning back at him, he figured she understood too.

Levi had been worried about him. Levi cared for him. Levi had just kissed him in front of at least half the Shinganshina military personnel.


End file.
